There is a strange pressure we put on ourselves to know what happens next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little sign somewhere that says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This way. You\u2019re going in the right direction.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But life doesn\u2019t always give us that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes you can do everything you are supposed to do and still find yourself standing in the middle of an unfinished story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t know what next month will look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t know whether the thing you are waiting for will happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t know whether the decision you made was the right one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t know whether Plan A will work, whether you\u2019ll need Plan B, or whether life is quietly preparing a Plan C that hasn\u2019t even crossed your mind yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And somehow, in the middle of all that uncertainty, you are still expected to carry on with ordinary life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are groceries to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laundry to fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Messages to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who need you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dinner still needs to be made, even when your entire future feels as though someone has written it in pencil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe that is where we get it wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe we think we need to figure out our whole life before we are allowed to feel peaceful again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is something wonderfully freeing about those three little words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not I have failed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not nothing is going to work out.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everyone else has their life together except me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are things you cannot possibly know today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are conversations that haven\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doors that haven\u2019t opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People you haven\u2019t met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opportunities you cannot see from where you are standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes we exhaust ourselves trying to solve problems that don\u2019t even exist yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We travel months into the future in our minds, packing imaginary suitcases full of imaginary problems, and then wonder why we feel so tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Come back to today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is much smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And perhaps much kinder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the big picture becomes overwhelming, make your world smaller for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make the coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water the plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finish the little job you\u2019ve been avoiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the dog outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bake something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phone someone you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sit in the sunshine for ten minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clean one drawer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read a few pages of a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laugh at something completely ridiculous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These things may seem insignificant when you are waiting for a big answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We sometimes imagine that our real lives will begin once something happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we get the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we have enough money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the difficult season ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once everything finally settles down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But while we are waiting for life to begin\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n life is already happening.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This might be the hardest part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When something important is unresolved, enjoying yourself can almost feel wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can I relax when I don\u2019t know what is going to happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can I laugh when there is so much to worry about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can I enjoy today when tomorrow feels uncertain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because today still belongs to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uncertainty does not get to take every beautiful thing hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can be worried and still notice a beautiful sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can be waiting for an answer and still enjoy your coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can have absolutely no idea what happens next and still have a lovely afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two things can be true at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life can be uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And life can still be good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We often want life to hand us a floodlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We want to see the entire road ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every obstacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But perhaps that would be far too much to carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe we are only supposed to see the next few steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when we reach them, there will be enough light for a few more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don’t need to know exactly where you will be six months from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don’t need every answer this Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don’t need a perfect five-year plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don’t even need to feel completely confident about the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes the next step is simply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep going.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One ordinary day at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if today is one of those days when you are staring at your life thinking,<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really have no idea what happens next\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n perhaps you can put that enormous question down for a little while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make something nice to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open a window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put on music you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do one small thing that makes your corner of the world feel good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tomorrow can wait its turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are here today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And today deserves to be lived too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2600\ufe0f Keep Packing Sunshine.<\/strong> \u2600\ufe0f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12],"tags":[87],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-sunshine-suitcases-blog","tag-motivation"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunshinesuitcases.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}It Is Okay to Say, \u201cI Don\u2019t Know Yet\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do the Small Thing in Front of You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You Are Allowed to Enjoy Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Maybe You Only Need Enough Light for Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n