I returned to school as an “adult” learner & found it to be a wonderful experience. Having been a single Mom for years, what a gift it was to myself to learn & grow & experience so many wonderful things. Talk about rejuvenating one’s brain! It was awesome! Good for you!

To answer your questions:

1. How do you handle situations when you can’t plan for the future?
There may be lift choices that we can not anticipate the outcome, but in my mind, there is very little that can’t be planned. Maybe I misunderstood your question, but here is my take…
When I returned to school, I still needed to pay the bills, buy the groceries & make meals & care for my son & home. My life as I knew it prior to school, really did not change. But I did have to find time to study & figure out how to go to school & work. These changes DID affect my family but most of the changes affected me. I had to cut out TV & use my “free” time more wisely.

To “globally” respond to your question; we can’t anticipate illness or death. But there is very little that we can’t PREPARE for….we can make sure we have debt cleared away, our homes organized, money in the back & food in the pantry. We can also take care of our bodies so we can optimize not only our health but have the best capabilities to respond to stress & unexpected devastations. Emotionally, we can “also put our affairs in order”. Are we carrying around excess emotional baggage that unnecessarily drains us?

So, maybe I misunderstood your questions, but there is very little in this life that is unexpected if we are prepared. If we embrace the storms in life, the rainbows are all the sweeter.

How do you set goals when you don’t know what you’re aiming for?

I guess my response harkens back to the answer to my first question. We may be uncertain about our career choices or where we want to live. But our core values, being a good partner, good parent, good person, should be the goals we are striving for on a daily basis. In doing so, we will feel the support & love of others which in turn will make those periods of “confusion” a little more palatable. We will also feel an increased sense of being or truth in ourselves which should help clear away the smoke of confusion.

HTH…..sorry if I misunderstood….