The Giraffe

I always said my favorite animal was a giraffe and sometimes people agreed and sometimes they didn’t.  I was desperate to be taller than I was and I thought if I could actually see things coming, I might have better luck.  If I had seen my parents divorce coming, I would have been nicer and more helpful around the house.  If I had seen my final grades ahead of time, maybe I would have studied more while I was in school.  Maybe if I could see the horizon like a giraffe, I could plan better. 

I bought a planner with the intention of being able to plan my life better than I have been.  The cover, of course, has a giraffe on it.  I thought maybe if the cover and pages are full of my favorite animal, I would be more tempted to use it on a regular basis.  I had plans for my life and just needed to provide myself stability to act.  I want to be a poet.  I want to write a novel.  I want to be an artist.  I want to be an accomplished hiker and camper.  As I began to actually plan my steps, my goals finally began to come into focus.  I was finally going to become the giraffe I always wanted to be.  The only thing I couldn’t account for were the curveballs of life.  The worst curveball came when I lost my job and everything I had ever known came crashing down.