There is a pattern to my life that goes something like this: If I try really hard at something, I fall flat on my face. But once I've thrown up my hands and just live my life, great stuff happens. This has been true in my career as well as my personal life. At the age of 25, I had a broken heart and decided I was never going to get married. And then one day a guy walked into my life (he literally walked into the newsroom where I was working as a reporter). I almost didn't give him a chance. Thankfully, I did, and that was 27 wedding anniversaries ago. Same thing with my career. Whenever I agonized about my options - should I stay in the newspaper business or try something else, should I get a master's degree - it led me into a state of confusion and inaction. When I stopped over-thinking my future, opportunities started landing in my lap. I don't know if it's good advice or not, but for those of you out there who are over-planners as I tended to be, maybe there is something to be said for letting life surprise you.
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