The other day, while talking to a client, she mentioned a conversation with a friend. Her friend told her she was “winging it” at the moment. The penny dropped for me – yes, who isn’t winging it at the moment?
I know I certainly am as I wonder what exactly has and is still happening to my life this year. Every now and then my vision board for 2020 falls off the wall and I determinedly stick it back up again. I was adamant I wasn't going to let 2020 get the better of me. But, when it fell down yet again last week, I realised I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
And that’s was when I also realised, I was also “winging it” right now. I took a long and hard look at my vision board. I remember so clearly the day I did it at the beginning of the year. I was optimistic. It was going to be the year full of travels to exotic places (China, in case you’re wondering!), the bushveld (my most favourite place to be) and I was going to rock my business.
But clearly, 2020 has different plans for me.
Where to Now?
So now I’m ten months down the line from when I first put all my dreams down for 2020. And, I’m so off track it either frigging amazes me some days and other days I sit dumbfounded! Is this what living in the moment is all about? I don’t know how many times I've shrugged my shoulders and muttered, “Well, I’ve always wanted to live NOW” and here I am, winging it every day.
Yesterday I met up with friends and family. And, the conversation turned to Mr. CV – you know – the topic everyone wants to pretend isn't happening – that one. We got talking and surprisingly “winging it” was how each and every one of us is handling where we are right now.
What Exactly Does It Mean to Wing it?
I can’t speak for everyone, but for me “winging it” means simply taking each day as it comes. Not too much focus goes on tomorrow or beyond. It means taking what the moment gives me and living it to the best of my ability. Is it a cop out on life? I don’t know anymore.
What I do know it makes it easier for me to accept my vision board and all its dreams ain’t going to be happening in 2020. Maybe never. Maybe they weren’t meant to be. Instead, maybe 2020 and Mr. CV are teaching me more valuable lessons I need to learn and to embrace.
What I am learning is there’s a lot of freedom in not resisting. Acceptance is a HUGH gift and by accepting my dreams have been altered, I can learn to allow the new in with open arms and an open heart. It’s not easy when the new is not what I had planned but, hey, life is an adventure.
Clients who have worked with me can only chuckle now. How many times have I told them, “Life is an adventure” when they despair how differently their goals are turning out? Now, I must take my own advice and go with the flow. If you’re going to wing it then you must accept what is happening today. You must accept it’s an adventure, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out tomorrow.
Of course, I know we have a choice in how things turn out but sometimes what we believe is right for us is not right for us. That’s the power of winging it – living in the moment, dropping the resistance, and accepting you’re on the right path no matter how different it is to what you planned.
Winging It: Are You Giving Up?
Others will argue with me and say I’m giving up. Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. But right now, winging it is simply easier than trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Winging it is an acceptance I can’t (and I don’t) want to try and fix the world today. Winging it gives me permission to absorb what is happening this year, to grieve a bit, to let go a bit, and to embrace the amazing powers that be.
So, as I look at my vision board now, I see my dreams and I question their validity. I question who I am and I question how much I was trying to force my life path to go in one direction. I question my need to control a certain outcome. And, then I realise Mr. CV has taught me so much this year.
A Final Word on Winging it
Life is full of surprises and 2020 has certainly given us our fair share of surprises! If you’re feeling baffled by how your life has turned upside down then simply let it all go. Try winging it for a while and watch the space.
I reckon winging it is the sensational result of letting go. Of being able to say, “I can’t control everything”. It’s about having faith in yourself knowing by letting go you’re up for the adventure. Winging it doesn’t mean you’ve given up. It simply means living in the moment and being amazed by it.