The Season of Getting Ready

How much trouble do we bring upon ourselves by being not ready? Avoidable difficulties, those are the ones that really get me.

In the last week for instance, I have not been ready to eat properly by not defrosting food or not going to the market or not having a plan. The result? Another week of not losing a single pound.

I have not been ready in time for work because I hit snooze a few too many times.

And so on.

Failing to plan is planning to fail and all that.

Several years ago I was working with my friend Becky and she was so bothered by her parents' decision to purchase long-term care insurance. It was lots of money every month to prepare for a someday (you know about those somedays) that was so far away it could hardly be imagined. And there was every chance her parents wouldn't even need such extensive care and that money would be wasted. That was about ten years ago. Becky's mom died of Alzheimer's disease almost a year ago, and her dad passed a few months later. They lived until the end in a beautiful retirement community that was able to provide for them from independence to total care. They were ready.

I'm usually all about being ready so I can't wait for tomorrow when I'm off work and I can get to the market. I'm already planning my meals, not going to have another week figuring it out as I go. I'm the person who always has her laundry caught up and the housework gets done on schedule. I make my hair cut appointments way ahead of time. I have extra shampoo, canned goods and flashlights stashed away. My gas tank? Never less than 1/4 full. That'll get me pretty much anywhere. Even my coffee pot gets set up every evening for the next morning.

As life goes on, we need to look even farther than a week or a month ahead and be ready. Be careful not to burn bridges or take other people for granted. If payday comes with $0 left in the bank, something needs to happen.

And when someday arrives, no one will think it's a bit charming if we say, "Oh I have always been a procrastinator!" Nor will it stop the hands of time to insist, "I'm not ready!"

Ready or not, life will be wonderful sometimes. There will be passion. There will be storms. If there are babies, there will be teenagers. And tomorrow will come. Ready or not.

I'm planning on nurturing and guarding my marriage with everything in my being. I'm planning on guiding daboyz without dominating them. I'm planning on holding my grandchildren, inhaling deeply and remembering when their dads were babies.

I'm planning on being healthy and engaged with life. I'm planning on adding perennials to my yard every year until it becomes a blaze of color and beauty for the springs of my retirement. I plan on having my house paid off in ten years.

I plan for the Mr. and I to retire and still have some years left to enjoy all of the above.

I plan to close my eyes one day and open them in heaven.

If I'm going to have any of these dreams, I have to be ready.

Day by day, I'm doing what has to be done for just that reason.