Keep on keeping on

How many times have you laid out plans for something really amazing just to have them flipped completely upside down at the last minute?

You lay out your strategy, you double check your work, make sure all your Is are dotted and Ts are crossed and then life rains on your parade. What do you do in these situations? What can you do?

While attempting to experience something new every day for a month, I've run into this situation quite a lot. As hard as I try to make sure I have every detail planned to execute an epic experience, some how life seems to get in the way and without warning, I'm left scrambling to come up with a hail-Mary plan B.

As frustrating and challenging as these situations have been, I can't help but think about the interesting parallels these struggles present to real life.

If there's one thing I've learned it's that life is chaos and as much as you might think at times you have a good hold on the roller-coaster, will bank left and you'll be left flailing and disoriented.

So how then do you attempt to control an uncontrollable force such as life? How can you plan for the unexpected and the unthinkable? Well, you can't.

The strategy should never be to try and control the chaos, the goal should always be to find a way to make the best of the situation you are given.

Be proactive with your Plan Bs

When I plan, it's always with the idea that it's a best-case scenario. That doesn't mean I don't try to organize my main plan as much as I can, but I need to know  what a plan B could potentially look like.

Earlier this month, I had this exact situation. I planned to try hydrofoiling on an air chair (apparently it's like tubing but strapped to a chair instead of a tube and skimming about three feet above the water with someone I had never met before.

When Friday rolled around, I discovered that not only had the weather changed for the worse, but my new friend with the boat was no longer returning me emails. 

I decided to bail out and go to plan B.

I thought a nice alternative would be to donate blood, so I set out across town on my bike to the blood clinic.

I discovered when I got there that the clinic wasn't even open on Fridays. I was now stranded on the far end of town at mid afternoon with nothing new to accomplish for that day.

Necessity is the mother of invention

When I was younger, my father used to tell me,as he scrambled to find a way to open his beer without a bottle opener, get inventive, get creative.

I never imagined it would actually have a real application to my life, but while standing on the steps of the blood-donor clinic as it started to rain, it came into my mind.

Someone had suggested the other day that cross-fit would be a fun challenge.

This wasn't on my list and was outside my normal workout routine, but I didn't know anyone who did CrossFit or who could hook me up with an introduction at a gym.

At this point though I was running low on time and options, so I started dialing gyms. After three different gyms and no luck booking something last minute, I was starting to get a little worried.

Finally I reached the manager at Okanagan CrossFit. http://www.crossfitokanagan.com/).

I'm certain I more than startled her as I launched into a desperate rant about experiencing something new, my blog challenge and my urgent need to become a CrossFit-er as soon as possible.

Thankfully, she invited me to a class she was hosting later that evening and I was able to not only check off my new experience, but I found an amazing community of motivated and supportive people.

Be brave, be open, and go with the flow

Sometimes these types of setbacks will leave you feeling stuck or overwhelmed like there's no escape from the unfortunate place you've found yourself.

The reality though is that there are new opportunities around every corner, and even though they may not be the ones you had focused on.

If we are open to the change instead of fighting against it sometimes,  we can end up discovering something even more rewarding. I learned last week while hanging 100 feet in the air off the side of a cliff.

Keep moving or stay stuck

I was rocking climbing for the first time and had become stuck half way up.

I was clinging on for dear life and I couldn't find a new handhold or crevasse to pull myself up.

After two or three minutes of desperate searching, my palms began to sweat and my body began to tense up. I was stuck..

My friend who was belaying me from below shouted up to me. "Keep moving your feet! Something will open up."

Reluctantly, I did as he instructed. I looked down and saw a different foothold and stuck my right foot into it.

As I moved, I looked up, and noticed a ridge in the rock that I didn't see before.

I grabbed it with my right hand and pulled myself up the cliff side. By just shifting my feet that small amount, my whole perception changed and opportunities to move forward presented themselves.

Sometimes, things don't go the way we planned, sometimes we're stuck in what seems like an inescapable trap, but if  focus on being proactive, if we embrace whatever changes come our way and when all else fails, if we just keep our feet moving, everything should work out. 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.