Plan B Deserves A Shot

The Trip We Thought We Were Taking

Michael and I took vacation last week but it didn’t look like the one we’d been planning for months.

We’d organized a trip to Hawaii, a special place for me and a place he hadn’t yet been. The Big Island and Kauai were on the itinerary and we were excited about the adventure together.

It was the trip on which I was going to finally spread Patrick’s ashes so it also had a deeply meaningful component for me.

The last time I’d been to the islands was three months after he’d died, when I went solo on the vacation we’d originally planned. I’d spent the first half of the trip on Lanai alone and then two of my friends met me back on Oahu for the remainder of the trip. (I have amazing friends!)

I’d thought about spreading his ashes then but it was way too soon for me.

The Pivot

Three days before Michael and I were to leave for Hawaii, we were forced to cancel due to weather.

After going back and forth about what to do instead, we decided to extend a planned day trip to the Hudson Valley for a friend’s birthday and make a few days of it.

What would’ve been a tropical vacation, hiking through volcanic craters and lush valleys, and sitting by the pool, turned into an pre-fall adventure with my favorite weather, fire pits, mountain ridge views, wildflower-picking, walks through a farm and under trees with hues of red starting to peep through.

We didn’t compare it to what “could’ve been” or what was “supposed to be”.

This was a different plan–Plan B–but one to which we gave a shot and gained all the things we’d still wanted under a different lens:

celebration, time together, nature, good food, relaxation, and inspiration.

What Plan B Reminded Me

Reflecting on the trip reminded me about this concept.

We can’t always anticipate what life throws at us.

We’re always gunning for Plan A to be just right but what happens when life pivots you away from it?

The pivot can still be the experience.

This made me think about losing Patrick and my transition away from my corporate job afterwards, neither of which I’d planned for but life forced me down another path.

I learned to make the most of Plan B.

Something not happening the way we planned can ultimately reveal something we wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.

It’s how we react to the change, and remain open up to what becomes available when reality rejects our plan, that matters.