We've all been there. You have an idea of what your day, your week, your year, or maybe even your life would be like. And then it completely changes, for better or for worse. Life is known to throw curveballs at us. So what are you supposed to do when your plan changes? Do you run and hide? Or do you grow from the change?

For a majority of high school, I had a very specific idea of what my life at college was going to be like in my head. I was going to go to live at school, major in economics, join every club (both social and academic) imaginable, and get so many scholarships that I wouldn't have to pay a penny for school. Yeah, that didn't really work out. Like at all. After a series of seemingly unfortunate events, this plan that I had for myself since I was a sophomore in high school, crumbled in front of my eyes. How did I deal with it? Well at first, I cried. I cried a lot. I loved having my shit together, but now, I had no idea what was going to happen, or what my new plan was going to be. So I took a step back and looked at what was happening on a bigger scale. Maybe, just maybe, the events that led to my plan's demise may have been the best thing to have happened to me.

The events that caused my old plan to fall apart showed me how much I had grown out of the plan I had for myself for the past 3 years. It showed me that this new plan (or my plan for the moment) is better for me, and is better for where I am in life right now. And maybe that plan will change in a year, or maybe it might change tomorrow, but that's okay. Because with growth, comes change.

I'm not going to say that it's easy or comfortable when your plans you laid out for yourself change. It's hard, and there's an adjustment period that goes along with it. But as you grow up, you start to see that change is a part of life and so are the curveballs that life throws at you at 150mph. It's okay to have a plan but don't get so wrapped up in it that you refuse to see another way things could go.

Change is challenging, and scary, and intimidating. But it is also magnificent, exciting, and wonderful. For now, I'm sticking with my current plan, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe I'll have another series of seemingly unfortunate events that will make me change this plan too. And that's OK! Life isn't meant to be simple or planned out perfectly. It's supposed messy, surprising, and exciting. So next time your plan falls through, think about the joys that the next plan will bring.