Back

The Art of Flexible Planning: How to Navigate Life's Unexpected Twists | Day 283 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Oct 12, 2023· 3 minutes

Plan with a pencil, always!

It is a good thing we are flying high on energy and that we are used to troubleshooting and changing our plans.

The boxes planned to be sent to Denmark were to be delivered on a specific date, but that date was changed less than 24 hours before, pushed back into our dental appointments in Barcelona and the day we were saying goodbye to the grandparents. 



Logistics is always a funny one to figure out: seats in the van, timing with the dentist and airplane, timing with who gets hungry when, and can the dogs be accepted in the taxi - all that stuff when we move the big group take up a lot of our planning hours.

I remember about 12 years ago when a friend pointed it out: We are mostly calm when sh** happens. She watched our family of 6 +1 dog when we could not start our car at 11 pm mid-winter trying to go home after visiting her in the countryside. Kids small, infant, 3, 6, 10 - something like that. It was no big deal, really - you can only control what you can control, and after that, it is just troubleshooting mode. And sometimes chaos control.

Panic will not help.

Falling out with each other will not help.

Just a quick analysis: What is urgent? What pieces do not move? How do we get to peace again fast?

So, on this day, Jesper picked up his parents, then the boxes, and drove to the drop-off, then to the big BCN parking, then via taxi to a lovely cafe to drop off the parents before running to the dentist. Meanwhile, the kids and I took the morning train to BCN, standing all the way, enjoying the fantastic view of the Mediterranean. And walked to the dentist.

At 11.25, we were all done with that, met with the grandparents, had ice cream, visited Ravid, the hardpan artist, walked to the restaurant - unfortunately, both grandparents were robbed in the street on the way - and had a good long debriefing of that, and a nice lunch, before we drove them to the airport, and from there to the house we have rented to have space to get everything ready for the trip to Mexico.

All boxes ticked.

All good.

With love

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our lives like this, and we get very happy when we get your feedback. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 

More images on Facebook

In the second largest city in Denmark, Århus lives one of my father's little brothers. The one I have the closest relationship to. We went to a nearb…Read more
Roses are one of the garden disciplines to enjoy. Why do we even do it? Roses are delicate, vulnerable, and unique. They take time; they take skill; …Read more
I am not sure I like being productive and working to achieve my goals. I am not sure I like my top 3 from the daily to-do list, my set intentions, an…Read more
I sit with the pain. I feel it. I feel the deep love and allow the pain to be. It is all okay. The root is love. And love is the meaning of everythin…Read more
I have been wanting to write a book for a while now. Sometimes life throws something at you. At the right time, and the right place, in the right con…Read more
Else is 99 years. She approached me at my Grandads funeral some ten years ago, and told me who she was - she is the younger sister of my late grandda…Read more
There is a sadness creeping in as we do our last rounds in Denmark this summer. The price for the adventure is being paid right now. Only five weeks …Read more
When we came back from Sweden, we said goodbye to our oldest and delivered her back to her boyfriend and her home in Copenhagen. Then we drove to my …Read more
The summer nights are fantastic here, and with even one more sentimental emotion, we stick to our plan of leaving Scandinavia in high summer to get t…Read more