Letting Go of Your 10-Year Plan

I was recently celebrating my friend Darlene Cohen’s life by re-reading one of her books, Turning Suffering Inside Out. Darlene was a wonderful, brilliant, outrageous person, and long-time Zen teacher. She suffered much of her life from severe rheumatoid arthritis. She embodied her teaching through working with and learning from her difficulty, and exuded both joy and wisdom.

I often think about my plans and my future. I imagine we all do. In Darlene’s book she writes about the time in her life when she and her husband and son left residence in the San Francisco Zen Center. Darlene was a teacher for many students and also had a practice of helping people who were in physical plan. Many of her clients began to be concerned about her and asked about her financial plans and her life plans. She began to feel irresponsible, especially since she had a family, and decided that she did indeed need to develop a five-year and ten-year plan.

This task was so important that she decided to spend an entire day devoted to this exercise. (Yes, this made me laugh!) So, on this special day, a warm spring Sunday in San Francisco, she and her husband packed yellow legal pads and pens in their backpacks and went off on a bike ride. They stopped for coffee and pastries and rode through beautiful places along the bay. Finally by late morning they were ready to take up the task at hand. They sat down in a coffee shop, got out their pads and pens, and readied themselves for the task at hand — writing their five and ten year plan. But, nothing happened. There was tremendous resistance.

Then, Darlene says, she realized that she became clear about her five and ten year plan during the bicycle ride. For the next five and ten years she would do exactly what she had done for the past five and ten years — meditate, work with her students, and continue working with clients who were in physical pain.

Darlene goes on to say that this doesn’t mean that you should ignore money and finances and financial planning. Of course we all need to take care of our financial lives. However, what she learned was to see and appreciate the life she was already living, to embrace what she loved and appreciated about her life. She did not need to sacrifice the present by worrying unnecessarily about the future.

Darlene died several weeks ago after a long battle with cancer. Now, looking back at her life, when she began to work with cancer, she didn’t have as much money as she needed to pay for alternative treatments. Her friends and students gave her money. When she moved from San Francisco she didn’t have enough money to build a meditation hall in her home. Her friends and students supported her and provided funds for this as well.

I miss my dear friend. And I’m grateful to have her spirit and her teachings of courage — the courage to work with suffering and physical pain, the courage to appreciate the gift of our lives, and the courage and wisdom to turn suffering into joy.

Read more: Guidance, Inspiration, Self-Help, Spirit, 10 year plan, 5 year plan, zen

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

KS G.

6:00AM PDT on May 25, 2011

Thanks for the article.

send a green star

Lupe G.

9:34AM PST on Feb 7, 2011

We often get so caught-up in the shuffle of this hectic life that we forget that our time on this earth is limited. I know more depressed people than happy ones. It makes it very hard to survive & be free in a world with so many weighty burdens. Still, life is short & even if sometimes it feels like the worst mistake ever, you have to take that plunge & make yourself happy; prove to yourself that letting go is okay & that worries & bills will always be there so stop worrying about what cannot be changed & just live; go out & enjoy!

Loo S.

9:44PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

thanks for sharing.

Karla H.

8:04PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Thank you for this post, this is exactly what I need; a lesson on how to truly live life. Life is short and we should not spend it worrying (easier said than done) about what we have no control over, the past and the future. All we can do now is enjoy the here and now and love/cherish what is important and meaningful in our lives, self, family, and friends (including the four legged ones).

Susan N.

6:00PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Great post, a good reminder to enjoy life and to be happy right here right now with what you have not what you don't have. What a great friend to have shared life with.

Susan S.

3:56PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Thanks so much for this because it resonates with my philosophy to live one day at a time with spontanaeity and joyfulness. Living in the moment with faith that God will provide sometimes can be challenging but no-one can predict what the future holds. By dwelling on the future you can lose the present and I believe in living life to the fullest in the now.

xxx y.

3:46PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Thanks

Jane H.

2:00PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

good post....I am wondering what, if anything, I am going to do now that my life is mostly over. I am almost 73 and have had a great life--full of adventure, sadness, joy and responsibility. I know I can't take too much responsibility anymore and I know I want to have fun, and I'm wondering what else!!

Barbara A.

12:45PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

puts things in perspective

Liz J.

12:37PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Planning for me is something I always mean to do but never quite get there, I am a firm believer that if it is meant to happen it will, however I would like to be more financially better off. As I get older that is one thing I do worry about but the rest of the time I try and enjoy life as best as I can