Have you ever said to yourself, “I’ll get to that when things get back to normal.  They’re just so crazy right now!”  Do you wonder when you’re going to have a “normal” day where you can accomplish all those tasks and routines that never seem to get done because of some unusual or unexpected event that pops up?  Do you get frustrated because your vision for daily life isn’t the way you actually live?

Recently, in a coaching mastery class, I was encouraged to “claim business hours.”  This makes a ton of sense, as those of us who are entrepreneurs can find ourselves working all hours of the day and night, leading to exhaustion and burnout if we’re not careful.  My master coach confessed to texting in the tub back in the days before she claimed her own business hours.

Well,  all I can say is I’m working on it.  This is harder than I thought!  And the reason I’m finding is that I never seem to have a “normal” day where I can stick to a set routine.  Our car breaks down and we need to buy another one.  And then I need to go back to the dealership to handle paperwork, pick up the license plate, etc.  Or it’s Jazz Festival and we have house guests.  Or it’s Mardi Gras and we have house guests, not to mention parades! Or a friend experiences a sudden loss.  Or someone gets sick. Or I need to do taxes. Or I’m going out of town.  Or the moon is full and I take our visitors out to the swamp for an impromptu moonlit wordless walk.

So I’ve given up on normal.  I’m not sure that “normal” days exist!  And instead of worrying about it, I’m just embracing each day as special.  I can still set general goals, make sure I’m not working all the time and have a basic idea of what I’d like to accomplish.  Then when I inevitably move things around and do everything in a completely different order than I’d envisioned, with new activities tossed in and other tasks abandoned, I can remember that all is well. And it doesn’t make sense to wait for “normal” to prioritize what’s most important to me. Normal’s never going to come. Instead, it’s another unique, special day, in a very happily un-normal life.

What about you?  Does your “real life” match your vision of “normal life”?  Do you get frustrated with surprises and interruptions or adapt to them?  Do you prefer strict routines or just a basic framework?  What makes your days special?  How do you embrace the unexpected?  Please feel free to share your stories, thoughts and tips in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!