Plans Change: Can You Change Along with Them?

Yesterday I was excited about all the things I was going to get done. I had a lot of plans and commitments scheduled for work. So, I woke up early, ready for a super productive day.
I made Jack’s lunch and snacks. I packed a change of clothes and put together his nap stuff. Then, Eric drove Jack to preschool, and I headed into my home office to begin my super productive day. I felt energized. I had a smile on my face. My mind was one-pointed—on work.

Then, 15 minutes later, I heard Jack’s voice. He was supposed to be at school. Why was he coming in through the back door? What was happening? Why was he home? Eric came in shortly after saying, “It’s Memorial Day, and school is closed.”

What?! I knew it was Memorial Day, but Jack’s preschool is always open. I didn’t see any signs posted last week about it. There were no comments from anyone at school about a closure. My school calendar didn’t show it as closed. 

I was stunned. I was totally ready to work. It’s not that I don’t absolutely love Jack and want to spend time with him. It’s that my mind was totally set on other things. 

This could have created tons of anxiety, stress, and fear inside of me. And to be honest, for a minute, it did!         

In the past, my reaction would have been resistance. I would have been frustrated, which would have led to blame, and then lots of anxiety. I’d be mad at the school for not making it clear they were closed. How dare they ruin my day? Most of my energy would’ve been directed at blaming other people for why my day was not going as I planned. 

I wouldn’t have even known how to take personal responsibility for what I thought or how I felt. Because my mind and emotions would have been running me!

But yesterday I was able to do something totally different. 

Why? 

Because for years, I have trained my mind, emotions, and body to respond differently to stressors. I promise you I don’t do it perfectly, but I do it much better than ever before. 

Negotiating Change with Grace

Before I tell you how I responded, let me be totally transparent. This new response has taken practice. But I promise this is doable. We can change. 

Two guiding beliefs I live by and practice every single day that have changed my life:   

1. I do whatever it takes to be happy and experience joy—every single day, no matter what. And I mean, no matter what. Because if I am not happy and if I don’t know really deep joy, life only gets harder for me. Nothing in my life—from getting my coffee order wrong to the recent loss of my dad—gets easier when I blame and live in victimhood. 

2. I connect with who I truly am. There is a part of me (of all of us) which is deeper than all of my habitual responses to life. I tend to call this my inner guidance system. It might be called seer, knower, spirit, intuition, etc. This part of me is not staring at my problems with me. It’s always holding the center of peace, calm and wisdom. I touch this place by sitting quietly every single day, no matter what. 

This is a quote I really love, 

“You can’t control the wind, but you can always adjust the sails.” 

Yesterday I was able to adjust the sails and go with the wind. Life changed suddenly and not as I planned. I could have resisted and fought with the “wind” all day long. But instead, here is what I did. Here are the choices I made:

1. I took a few deep breaths. I know we hear “breathe” all the time. But it’s so important. When I took those breaths, something amazing happened in my body. I gained control. I’ve come to rely on it. Deep breathing during times where we might have a habitual reaction can bring our mind and emotions back under our care. The fight-or-flight response shuts down our ability to reason and choose. But when we breathe deeply and calmly, we stimulate the other part of our autonomic nervous system that counters the fight-or-flight response. This part, known as the parasympathetic nervous system, allows us to respond using our prefrontal cortex, which is necessary for decision making and reasoning. 

2. I accepted the situation. Suffering happens in the mind. The thing happened. Jack was home. I couldn’t control or change that part of the situation. So the only place (which is the most powerful) was in my own reaction; my mind and my emotions. So, I accepted the situation with a smile on my face. How we accept matters! Smiling doesn’t mean I like it necessarily; it means I am consciously choosing to manage my own energy and experience. 

3. I let go of resistance. We resist because we want to control. I want to control. Control feels safe and secure. Wanting control is a natural part of our evolution and our survival instinct. So letting go of resistance isn’t about losing control, it’s about disengaging from what we can’t control so we can link with what we do have dominion over. So I let go of resisting the situation. I allowed it to be. 

4. I made a new plan. Fear, frustration, blame, and anxiety are strategies we use to cope. But they don’t work for our long-term happiness and wellbeing. For years, anxiety and blame ruled my life. They were my go-to coping mechanisms. But today I can let go of resistance and blame. Letting go of what is and what we can’t change actually frees us up for more. I made a plan for a new day. This gave me a sense of control and safety. We need that. 

Our Day       

So what did we do? We went to Lowe’s, cleaned and organized the garage, and ended the day at the park. All in all, it was a great day spent with people I love.

I could’ve been frustrated and bitter through it all. I could have missed out on what I thought should have been. Instead, I took control of my attitude and response and lived.

What a gift to live in a universe that gives us free will to choose how we experience anything. Happiness is a practice. Peace of mind is a state of being, not something that we need to allow circumstances to control or decide for us. 

Try this out next time you notice yourself reacting instead of responding: 

• Breathe

• Accept

• Let Go of Resistance

• Make a New Plan

• Repeat  

Study with YogaUOnline and Tias Little: The Spine as a Sacred Channel – Creating a Body of Light, Vitality, and Energy​.

Reprinted with permission from JoyStoneCoaching.com

Joy Stone is an experienced and certified Yoga Teacher and Personal Transformation Coach. She is also the founder of Soul Subscription – a holistic online membership designed to help you stay consistent on your spiritual path and true to yourself. With over 13 years of professional experience, she is passionate about helping men and women break free from fear, frustration, and overwhelm and breakthrough into a life they truly love. Joy’s special style of coaching uniquely blends the most essential tools & life-empowering practices from eastern and western psychology & philosophy. She received her positive psychology education under Harvard Professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, Wholebeing Institute and her yoga teaching certification under the Anusara style — a therapeutic application of yoga psychology and practice. You can learn more about Joy and her work at www.joystonecoaching.com