Improvisation – End of the Day for July 27, 2014

There are times I wish I had the precision of NASA as I launch into my week each Monday. I make lots of check lists and plans, but life is never something that respects plans greatly. There are too many unknowns in life to allow too much planning, so we come up with a few scenarios, a few goals and hope that circumstances go along with those plans.

As you might imagine, while circumstances and our plans sometimes match up, it is much more common for life to fly apart, go chaotic and make us improvise perhaps a bit more than we might like. This can be very stressful depending on the cause of the chaos and the results, but without these improvisational moments life would certainly be a lot more dull. We might not enjoy it much when we are in the middle of a crisis but in many cases it can make our life better — if we let it.

Life chaos requires the ability to let go of trying to control what you cannot and make the best of what you given. Fear and our own arrogance can often cause us to flail about and fight against what is happening, even if would be better for everyone involved to go with the flow. The ability to recognize chaotic moments and ride them out with style is definitely one trait you should look to cultivate. I can guarantee that it will do more good than all the authoritarian bluster you can manage.

Plan your life and your actions,of course, but then treat each day like a Jazz tune where all the musicians follow a basic track, but then are encouraged and challenged to make their own song in and around the basic framework the songwriter created. Life is often nothing but improvisation, so the more you cultivate it, the better off you will be.

Previously on End of the Day: