So I have come to the realization that I have an over-active imagination. I create these romanticized ideas of how my life, or events I am going to experience will play out. History has shown me that because of this I often set myself up for disappointment. However for some reason this consequence does not prevent me from participating in dream world again.
This scenario has most recently occurred in my thinking about winter break. In my mind it would be a time filled with one activity after another. Through this menagerie of activities two main goals would be accomplished:
A) I would do things I wouldn't usually be able to participate in because of school and
B) I would thoroughly enjoy these activities because I am not thinking about the 101 other things I should be doing for class.
Now realistically I know that my friends have lives. They work during the day. And believe it or not...they aren't out EVERY night doing fun and exciting things. Sometimes they are just watching TV, going grocery shopping, or doing laundry. However when I imagined what this Christmas break would look like for me,those things weren't really part of the equation. I found myself totally unprepared for all the alone/down time I am experiencing during break. Realistically I should have been prepared for it, but my mind was seeing a completely different scenario playing out.
Although my break has not really taken the whimsical and fancy free form I had initially imagined it has been very relaxing and I have managed to meet my two goals without the wall to wall activities. I mean I have enjoyed being able to hang out with my friends without having to think about the list of school related things I should be doing instead, and I have been able to participate in all of the activities that have been planned which I likely wouldn't be able to do if school was in session. So to update you on what I have been doing so far on my Christmas break I have complied a list of some of the highlights thus far which include seeing Narnia, baking cookies with my small group, caroling with with my small group, attending my first ever Holidazzle followed by strolling through the Cinderella exhibit with Jess and my new fav neighbor, eating delicious food while in the company of my church family at our annual Christmas feast, and going to the Y with Anna for my first work out in months.
3 comments:
I've found that for a single mother I've thought the same things about my friends who don't have kids. (the thinking that everyone goes out every night theory).
I've learned, when thinking in the dream world, to think a basic skeleton outline of events or expectations. The real experience good or bad is one of true beauty and worth more in the long run. Just think how boring life would be if it was everything we thought it would be. :P Wow... I think I need to go to bed! Merry Christmas!
Heather, I'm right there with you on the whimsical dreamland I create for my future. Matthew gets upset with me for it, but recently I read an article that it is actually very healthy to be excited for future events. It means your imagination is alive and well, and that you are hopeful for the future. It is so important, though, to accept disappointing events as part of the beauty (as melody said) of the unknown.
If you get too bored, come visit Willmar! I go out every single night- it is one blast after another (kidding). OR, you can come help me with my laundry. (yeeeeeeeeah!)
Ja'Quanda,
I found that the down time, so looked forward to and dreamed about while in school, was almost as tough as being super busy. No one prepared me for this when I was done with school, or when I was on breaks. I think our minds get used to the over-inundation (is that even a word?), and then when it stops suddenly, we are kind of lost. But, it still beats writing a 20-page paper on Cognitive Behavior Therapy and its effects on the psyches of children, or whatever.
Party on!
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