The Power of Lyrics - "Life is What Happens to You While You're Busy Making Other Plans."

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

- John Lennon (from the song "Beautiful Boy [Darling Boy]" from Double Fantasy -1980 [demo version - Click for Video])

A sentiment that John Lennon proffered to his young son, Sean.

This more than any phrase or thought is one I now try to live by. When I get overly wrapped up in something or when I delay a decision or put something off until a certain number of pieces are nicely place, or decide that the time isn't right to do, buy or change a facet of my life... this phrase is the one that pops into my head, smacks some sense into me, wakes me from my stupor and forces me to move forward.

But it wasn't always this way. Between 2001 and 2005, I made three monumental decisions using this phrase as my guide. My first was to get out from under a mountain of nearly six-digit debt. How had I gotten there? Simple - I was trying to live my life as a normal person, hoping that a change would someday come to make it all right. It never did.

Once the dust settled from that, my second change was the hardest of all, and that was to acknowledge fully who I was and choose to live that way. That had its own challenges and skins to shed.

Finally, with my life settling back into a groove of calm once more, I took the last piece - my employment - and shook it up by taking a 40% paycut in order to move into a job that would make me Happy and be more fulfilling.

"Life is what happens to you..." Everyday this is the thing we are all experiencing. Whether we wake up and sit in traffic for an hour only to then end up in a small poorly lit cubicle slogging through piles of meaningless papers, or if we stay at home tending to our progeny. We go to an office, a store, the stables... plow a field, analyze data, work on a cure for HIV, teach, firefight, dry clean, deliver mail, arrange flowers, drill teeth... this is your Life. It's happening to you right this moment.

Every single being on this planet has a Life. But is it one you want? Is it one you enjoy? If not can you change it? If not, then find some way to enjoy it.

Time is marching forward and cares not whether you liked Today or hated Today. It's bringing Tomorrow, ready or not. And soon what was Today becomes Yesterday, Yesterday becomes Last Week, Last Month, Last Year... next thing you know, a Decade has gone by and somehow those plans for a better tomorrow have yet to materialize.

"... while you're busy making other plans." Do you recognize that you are in your Life? Or are you simply going through the motions of tedium, dreaming of a better tomorrow? That better tomorrow (for now) IS just your other plans. And while it is wonderful that you spend time thinking about them and working toward them, you may never get there if you don't take some time to enjoy your present Life.

Find something small that gives you joy. Find ways to enrich your Life. Maybe instead of being stuck in traffic, hop off an exit or two early and drive past a Park. Pull over, get out and stretch for five minutes, breathing in the air, listening to the birds or watch a squirrel.

This IS your Life and it is currently happening to you and plan as you might for a better tomorrow that will make you happier, make sure you take a few moments to enjoy your Life - Today.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."