How much of your life have you spent worrying about and preparing for imaginary futures that never com to fruition outside of your mind’s stage? Recently I was allowing the weather forecast to control my plans, as usual. Once again, as a blatant metaphor for life, I learned planning has nothing to do with what actually may happen.

The weather forecast was 90% chance of all day rain and we were supposed to go to a huge outdoor food, music and entertainment festival downtown. My husband has been performing at this event for the last 12 years and I’ve been coming along, through the decades, first as a girlfriend, then with a pregnant belly and now with my five-year-old in tow. On news of the rain, we sent emails in advance. Would there be tents? Should we get one-dollar ponchos? Maybe Looney Lenny should bring an extra outfit and makeup.

I decided I’d sit this one out; I didn’t need an outdoor rain fest. Saturday morning I woke up to cloudy skies but not a drop of rain. In fact, the sun even poked out between the clouds. The 90% of a rain out was trumped by Mother’s Nature’s other plans. Threatening clouds were not “the ideal” weather scenario, but when taunted with a complete washout, “merely cloudy” is awesome. I was so grateful for those clouds – and of course decided I would change my mind and go.

The weather cooperated all day. My husband joked how the clown always brings the sunshine and I reflected on all of our vacations and how I studied the weather they had predicted in advance and how I had stressed out about possible storms or clouds. We always had the sun. If there was rain, it was short lived and passed quickly.

It felt so symbolic to me. Maybe because Mercury in Retrograde finally closed its cycle (until next time) or maybe it’s PMS, but I was so moved by this blatant lesson I had ignored countless other times. You can’t plan your life around the weather forecast; it’s all one big  guess. Live the life you want to live and bring an umbrella.