When my door flew open one night, I expected to see one of my parents standing there, but instead I found my 4-year-old sister asking if I could play with her.
I was immediately annoyed and asked her to leave. I was on the phone with a friend and wanted to finish the project we were working on within the hour so we could do other homework. When she asked again, I told her she could play in my room if she was quiet, but I needed to get work done.
When she came inside, she did not play with the toys she had brought like I expected. Instead, she walked over to my phone, started dancing in front of the camera and asked my friend a bunch of questions. I thought my friend would be annoyed or upset by this disruption, but instead she laughed. She stopped working and took the time to entertain my sister’s antics, even though it was not how she anticipated spending her time.
While I was initially upset with my sister for distracting us, she ended up making us laugh and provided a much-needed break from our work. More importantly, this interaction made me more aware of a pattern in my life that I had just begun to notice: unexpected moments often lead to something better than what was originally planned.
Take Torch for example. Coming into high school, I had planned out every class I wanted to take all the way through my senior year. While being part of Torch was never my original plan, I am so grateful that it is part of my life now. Without it, I would have never developed my love for journalism, discovered the topics I am passionate about or met some of the most amazing people.
Even on a smaller scale, unexpected events have become some of the best parts of my life. Last-minute lunch plans have led me to find new favorite restaurants. Spontaneous boba runs with friends and late-night adventures have created some of my favorite memories. Random activities with my siblings have turned into our favorite games. The list of things that were originally unplanned but have turned out to be better than what I had planned in the first place goes on and on.
While we may hope our original plans work out perfectly and everything will happen exactly as envisioned, more often than not, this is not our reality. Life happens, problems come up and even the most meticulous planners can be caught off guard. Clinging to original plans frequently leads to disappointment and frustration when unpredictable events occur. We must embrace the unexpected moments whenever they occur and realize these times can sometimes lead to the most amazing outcomes.
The next time something happens that is not a part of my plan, I will approach it optimistically instead of seeing it as a bother. Because, who knows, maybe the best memories are the ones you least expected to make.