It's Ok To Hit Pause On Your Goals

Permit yourself to stop trying to plan.

- Anna Borges

In the six or so months since the new coronavirus pandemic began, I’ve gotten kind of used to a lot of what some are calling the ‘new normal’. I’ve more or less embraced WFH life. I’ve begrudgingly accepted Zoom therapy. I now own a large collection of fashionable animal print masks. But one thing I haven’t adjusted to, no matter how hard I try, is how impossible it still feels to plan for the future – or to even imagine what my future might look like.

As someone with entire spreadsheets dedicated to mapping out present and future plans and goals, I’m struggling with this. A lot. I can’t stand not being able to decide whether I should see my family over the festive season this year. I’ve gone back and forth a million times on whether to postpone my plans to apply to university, not knowing what the world will look like next summer. I’ve pulled my hair out trying to decide what my next book should be because who knows what’ll be helpful or obsolete by the time it comes out? I’ve toiled away in therapy sessions trying to piece together a plan for how to move forward in any realm of my life with even a shred of confidence.