For quite a few years, my birthday day itself (as opposed to the whole Birthday Festival) has been one of celebration, reflection and planning for the following year.

I will plan at the drop of a hat. Actually, I would have planned while the hat fell since it’s likely to be a little late once it hits the floor. If that happened, I would just plan from that point forward instead which could also be useful since I wouldn’t need a contingency for if that hat was ruined in it hitting the floor.

This year, I didn’t think about hats.

One of the 974 things I did think about was the little things in life and how a series of these make the big things. This is a paraphrase of a quote that I’ve been seeing all over the place lately so I took it as a sign that I should ponder it further.

And ponder I did.

My day started as it usually does, walking my dog. I thought about goals for the upcoming year. We were on the home stretch when at shoulder level, I saw this little stuffed toy, with yellow measles, wedged in a tree branch on the other side of an iron fence. 

Something about it struck me. 

Not only because it’s an unusual spot to find something with yellow measles, looking sad, leaning against the metal fence to cool its cheek and bring its temperature down while its arms and legs were both trapped. My initial thought was surprise that I happened to see it at all. I could potentially have missed seeing a toy with yellow measles.

It stayed in my mind all day.

Seeing the unexpected simply because two minutes prior, I had decided to focus on walking my dog, enjoying the scenery and that planning could wait. 

Good lesson in mindfulness while highlighting the irony of planning.

It is very easy to focus on goals and miss the experience. Missing the day-to-day of what’s happening, to appreciate all the little things in the pursuit of something bigger, to be future focused and miss the what’s right in front of me, seems a shame.

The reverse is also possible with so much focus on the day-to-day, immediacy and no goals, resulting in aimless drifting with no purpose beyond being in the moment and enjoying it. The enjoying part sounds fun however, it would miss my need for achievement unless I considered enjoyment as the achievement. 

This is a big stretch for me as I see enjoyment as a by-product of whatever it is I am doing rather than the goal itself. Enjoyment is a given since I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise. Except if I’m going to the doctor.

With the potential for my head to start spinning, I decided to plan a little differently this year to allow for these little things, spontaneity, being in the moment and increasing the potential for serendipity.

I still have my big goals, which are broken into tasks with a timeline (this is the part I’m working on) and a couple specifically ensure that I’ll not miss too many of the unusual little things. My plan allows time for observing. Time for being in the now.

It allows time for creativity.

I am going to see more of life’s yellow-measled toys wedged in trees behind iron fences.

* Thanks to Shaolin Fez for the title to this post. HK band that I saw at Clockenflap a few years ago (early-bird tickets now on sale for this year) and really enjoyed their kick-back sound. Listen to their 22-piece band. It’s unexpected.