Will here:
As I've talked with Jeremy over the past year and a half, and reflected on my divorce and everything that led up to it, I began to see that I had spent so much of my life simply existing. My natural inclination to plan took over, and all I ever did was plan and dream. There is nothing wrong with having a plan, I think it's a good thing, but when the planning process keeps you from living life, that becomes a problem. Too much planning doesn't allow for faith or trust in God, and planning can be a response to fear. As long as you're planning, you have an excuse for not taking action.
In addition to this, I've stated to realize that life is not about the destination, but the journey. Living happens on the road. When you're challenged to adapt and overcome obstacles, whey you have to really trust God to come through, that is when you really learn about who He is, what He is capable of, and how much He cares for you.
I've been challenged to change because I'm tired of how my life has gone. My life stopped going the way I thought it would go when I was 17. At that moment I began to play it safe. I never stopped planning and dreaming, but I never acted on any of those plans and dreams. I simply waited for everything to fall into place, and for opportunities to just present themselves. As a result, I've let things pass me by. I'm now 31, which really isn't that old, but at the same time I'm not as young as you used to be. Life has not worked out like I planned, and I spent years living in insecurity, with no real identity, and just existing as I waited for life to start.
Life is meant to be lived. I want to seize the day, live in the moment more, and really begin to act in faith and trust God. That doesn't mean shirking responsibility for reckless living, and it doesn't mean to cease dreaming and planning all together, but it does mean that I need to take to the road, and start pursuing some of my dreams. If I don't, then dying in my bed many years from now, I'll be wishing for one chance, just one chance, to go back and do things differently. I already wish I had done things differently up to this point, but fortunately for me, I still have time, and I want to make the most of every moment I have left.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Jeremy:
Much of what I have written about my approach has been slightly romanticized. While there are many positives to living life more flexible and free, able to adapt and change, it also carries with it a tendency to drift. When you have a goal in life, one main target you are aiming at, you know when you have hit that target and when you have missed it. This also applies with a long-term plan. You have a way of recognizing when you are moving forward, and when opportunities come up you can decide what to do because they will either align with the plan or not. It gives you a rubric to measure decisions and opportunities. I have been challgenged to change through three main avenues: 1). Conversations with Will. Our conversations about our differences were how I initially recognized my approach. 2). When I recently started dating a girl I realized I cannot continue to live without some basic plan in life. Now it is not just me; I am responsible to another person and it is not fair to her to always tell her, “we will just decide as we go”. 3). I realized as I started to make some serious plans that I have not been living to my full potential. Without a plan, a means to move in the direction I want to go, or a means of accomplishing my goals, I was drifting. Those feelings were real, not just erroneous feelings that would come and go. To clarify, I have always had ideas or dreams of where I might go or what I could do. However, I’ve been challenged to change because I want to accomplish as much as I can in life, and without a plan I will never get there. The feeling of drifting actually shows up because I have no orientation to help guide me when I lose sight of what is right in front of me. A plan actually helps keep us on target so we are able to move forward through disappointment and discouragement. We will surely be disappointed. Things will not always go our way. God will make sure of that simply because what we plan for our life is never perfectly aligned with what He sees concerning our potential and His dreams for us. He uses disappointment to help us see new things, to change course and readjust our directions. And, in the end, it is always good.
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