Whatever Tomorrow Brings
Participating in the Whole30 for 13 days, and counting, I recognize how much planning it has taken to ensure I have maintained within the program’s guidelines, especially when it comes to having an animal source protein readily available. In recent years, I have practiced mostly a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, making meals that plan around grains, legumes, tempeh, and tofu feel like second nature, but now in addition to generally looking ahead at my week, I have to actively plan my breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. I can no longer operate on autopilot and have to ensure that I have plenty of vegetables ready to consume and healthy fats paired with a protein of choice. However, as week 2 comes to a close, I have begun to feel my stride as I plan my upcoming meals. Food no longer consumes my mind; it just feels like a simple choice that directs certain actions and commitments in my life. I make a choice and the one to come is just the follow-up of that choice and my actions are the outcome. Thus, recreating my nutrition regimen doesn’t feel like an endless parade of planning but rather as the cascade and unfoldment of a choice and a commitment made, leaving a feeling of curiosity and freedom.
There are various types of planners: over planners, under planners, no planners, and the even keel planners. Sometimes over planning can be just as detrimental as under planning or having no plans at all. Each offers her benefits as one tries to find that right level of preparedness. Too much planning has one constantly living in the future. Not enough planning may keep one a bit lazy and not exploring new ideas. Yet, there is a nice fine balance between the two and that is where we meet the even keel planners, those who say, “No worries,” and mean it. They are the ones who are precisely in the moment, connected to what life is showing them, while also maintaining a connection to the intention they made previously, thus enabling them to intuit the needs of the following moment. It is a very neutral way to be and a great place from which to make plans, where there is a healthy level of unattachment to the past, present, or future, maintaining a steadfast awareness of what life is displaying at this moment, letting us know what we can prepare for.
There is freedom in being okay with what tomorrow brings. It is that touch of unattachment that allows us to feel confident that we are enough, just as we are, as we show up to each moment. We have what we need to have. We know what we need to know. We say what we are guided to say. It all runs perfectly and smoothly, if we but allow it and let go of our sense of control. And if there is something in particular that we need to prepare for, i.e. making a grocery list for the week, we will know it, get it done, and move on. We do not linger in uncertainty, getting ourselves caught in that space between choices. Rather, we abide in our knowing of each moment. We prepare, plan, and take action, but only as each moment calls us to do. We do not over do it or under do it. We merely abide in that sweet spot enjoying whatever tomorrow brings, knowing that it is all perfect. Namaste.