I have always considered myself (mi mismo) a planner, a person who likes to be organized and have goals (unas metas) about what I want to accomplish in my personal and professional life, as well as things I want to improve (mejorar) and to learn anew, and I often have to plan (planear) out my days, weeks and months in order to meet these goals, refinements and beginnings. I don’t consider myself someone (alguno) who plans in a straight line, although I know the mathematical principle that state the shortest distance (la distancia mas próxima) between any two points is a straight line (una línea recta), I am more as a seeker, a searcher, who sets out on a path (en un camino), and makes adjustments along the way, looking for new opportunities to learn and to grow (crecer) as the driver behind my personal journey.
I remember when I was first an undergraduate in college (la universidad), and a number of my classmates (mis alumnos) had their academic careers already planned out in the first semester of their freshman year. Many had goals to finish (terminar) their undergraduate degrees with specific majors and minors, in order to leverage their chances to move (mover) quickly into graduate and doctoral work, whether it be academic, business (los negocios), law (la ley) or medicine (la medicina). Many of my friends had a plan that seemed to be a straight line, which they in fact (de hecho) knew where they were going and how they were going to get there quickly. I had trouble then with this approach and I still have trouble with it today.
It is not that I don’t set goals, heck, I set goals all the time (todo los días), and it is not that I don’t have a plan, I certainly do and create schedules (los horarios) for myself that I stick to with seemingly unwavering self discipline. Yet, I have never had the desire (el deseo) to make a plan that was so cause and effect that I could plan out a series of events in my own life that would put me at a calculated next level (la próxima nivel). I have always had to give (dar) myself a lot of wiggle room in order to allow for change and circumstance to in effect be a guide (un guía) to the types of new learning and additional plans I would want to make (hacer) in my life. My journey, both personal and professional, has not been a straight line, no, it has been a river (un río), with long and winding stretches that do not seem (no aparece) to move with any great directed purpose, but upon reflection or from a position (una posición) of perspective, do connect the points, the beginnings, the ends and all points in between.
My life is like a river, one that started on the shores of my youth (mi juventud) and wound through the days of my childhood into my adulthood to bring me to today (hoy en dia). Along the way, I have had times where the journey has been gentle (sencillo), where the current of life is nurturing, slow and easy (fácil). It is in these times that I understand that life (la vida) is a blessing and that I have to enjoy the comfort and care of all that is around me, in fact, I am like a leaf (una hoja) floating along in a stream, being carefully carried from one place to another (un lugar al otro), moving forward all the time, but with great care (con gran cuidado). At other times, I find myself in deep water (el agua profundo), where the river is wide (ancho) and the current is quick (rápido), where I am moved at great distances in short periods of time, where I cannot fight the forces (las fuerzas) that are guiding me and I cannot turn to the direct right (la derecha) or left (la izquierda), I can only aim for distance points on the horizon and hope that I can steer myself to them.
There are other times (hay otros tiempos) where I enter more white water along the river of life, where the once gentle and rolling stream gives way to a rocky and tumultuous path that is fraught with danger (peligro). At his point, the journey is one that seemingly has no clear path from beginning to end (de la empieza al fin), but is filled with much shorter and more rapid connections, to move safely from point to point (punto a punto), to reassess, to readjust and to make a connections between new points on the fly (en el momento). In addition, the rivers of life can turn into waterfalls (unas cascadas), where change means moving to different levels very quickly, understanding within yourself that you did not plan for this to happen (ocurrir) and that your only hope is to hang (colgar) on for dear life.
I guess my point is that while we plan in order to (para) accomplish things in life, to give ourselves tangible goals to achieve (obtener) and a variety of experiences to have (tener) in life, there is no true straight path that leads you from beginning to end, and that is what makes the journey (el viaje) so interesting. With that perspective, I believe (creo), you give yourself that chance (la oportunidad) to go not only where you want to go (ir), but also to go where you also might be needed.
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