There is a strange pressure we put on ourselves to know what happens next.
We want a plan.
A date.
An answer.
A little sign somewhere that says:
This way. You’re going in the right direction.
But life doesn’t always give us that.
Sometimes you can do everything you are supposed to do and still find yourself standing in the middle of an unfinished story.
You don’t know what next month will look like.
You don’t know whether the thing you are waiting for will happen.
You don’t know whether the decision you made was the right one.
You don’t know whether Plan A will work, whether you’ll need Plan B, or whether life is quietly preparing a Plan C that hasn’t even crossed your mind yet.
And somehow, in the middle of all that uncertainty, you are still expected to carry on with ordinary life.
There are groceries to buy.
Laundry to fold.
Messages to answer.
Work to finish.
People who need you.
Dinner still needs to be made, even when your entire future feels as though someone has written it in pencil.
Maybe that is where we get it wrong.
Maybe we think we need to figure out our whole life before we are allowed to feel peaceful again.
We don’t.
It Is Okay to Say, “I Don’t Know Yet”
There is something wonderfully freeing about those three little words:
I don’t know.
Not I have failed.
Not nothing is going to work out.
Not everyone else has their life together except me.
Simply:
I don’t know yet.
There are things you cannot possibly know today.
There are conversations that haven’t happened.
Doors that haven’t opened.
People you haven’t met.
Opportunities you cannot see from where you are standing.
Sometimes we exhaust ourselves trying to solve problems that don’t even exist yet.
We travel months into the future in our minds, packing imaginary suitcases full of imaginary problems, and then wonder why we feel so tired.
Come back to today.
Today is much smaller.
And perhaps much kinder.
Do the Small Thing in Front of You
When the big picture becomes overwhelming, make your world smaller for a while.
Make the coffee.
Water the plants.
Finish the little job you’ve been avoiding.
Take the dog outside.
Bake something.
Phone someone you love.
Sit in the sunshine for ten minutes.
Clean one drawer.
Read a few pages of a book.
Laugh at something completely ridiculous.
These things may seem insignificant when you are waiting for a big answer.
They aren’t.
They are life.
We sometimes imagine that our real lives will begin once something happens.
Once we move.
Once we get the answer.
Once we have enough money.
Once the difficult season ends.
Once everything finally settles down.
But while we are waiting for life to begin…
life is already happening.
Quietly.
Right here.
You Are Allowed to Enjoy Today
This might be the hardest part.
When something important is unresolved, enjoying yourself can almost feel wrong.
How can I relax when I don’t know what is going to happen?
How can I laugh when there is so much to worry about?
How can I enjoy today when tomorrow feels uncertain?
Because today still belongs to you.
Uncertainty does not get to take every beautiful thing hostage.
You can be worried and still notice a beautiful sunset.
You can be waiting for an answer and still enjoy your coffee.
You can have absolutely no idea what happens next and still have a lovely afternoon.
Two things can be true at the same time.
Life can be uncertain.
And life can still be good.
Maybe You Only Need Enough Light for Today
We often want life to hand us a floodlight.
We want to see the entire road ahead.
Every turn.
Every obstacle.
Every destination.
But perhaps that would be far too much to carry.
Maybe we are only supposed to see the next few steps.
And when we reach them, there will be enough light for a few more.
You don’t need to know exactly where you will be six months from now.
You don’t need every answer this Sunday.
You don’t need a perfect five-year plan.
You don’t even need to feel completely confident about the next step.
Sometimes the next step is simply:
Keep going.
Slowly.
Gently.
One ordinary day at a time.
And if today is one of those days when you are staring at your life thinking,
I really have no idea what happens next…
perhaps you can put that enormous question down for a little while.
Make something nice to eat.
Open a window.
Put on music you love.
Do one small thing that makes your corner of the world feel good.
Tomorrow can wait its turn.
You are here today.
And today deserves to be lived too.
☀️ Keep Packing Sunshine. ☀️