Creating an Open Schedule

March 2023 Reflection

For most of my life, I have lived within a structured schedule and life plan. One of our family traditions would be to wait til midnight on New Year’s Eve to write down our ambitious goals for the year (not knowing I was developing SMART goals). For example, my goals would be to achieve taekwondo brown belt by June and to complete Kumon Level H by September. At a young age, my mom taught me how to manage multiple projects through scheduling on the calendar and breaking down every project into daily tasks. As an adult, I continued to schedule everything - work projects, social life, church to the point that I did not have much free time.

After I finished my job applications, I found myself with abundant free time. It was quite uncomfortable, but I realized that as much as I love planning ahead, I love surprises! One day, my friend, Dorothy asked if I was doing anything in a few hours and thankfully, I was free! I had started to let go of over-scheduling and said yes to an open calendar. In the past, I would usually need at least 1 week notice. It was the most fun roomie date, hiking the dish and getting ice cream. Even though we had hiked the dish several times before, I so enjoyed going spontaneously.

Having open space in my schedule also allowed me to help my friend, James while he was recovering from his knee injury. His injury made it difficult to not only walk, but also drive anywhere. As friends, we came together to offer prayer and encouragement, to give rides to the doctor and to cook food for meals. My eyes were opened to see how my open schedule allowed me to do great things I could never plan to do.