ImprovSpirituality

Improv is about being fully present to the moment. Sometimes the best way to live in the moment is to make plans for the future.  I have often found myself reluctant to make long-term plans. Some of my rational is that I am an ENFP on my Myer's Briggs Personality profile. That means I keep looking at options, sometimes waiting until an opportunity passes. Not making a decision, is making a decision. It also means I concentrate on the "what ifs." What if I make a non-refundable deposit and my situation changes? What if I change my mind or my living situation changes or a myriad other catastrophic options? So in order to be safe, I back down, I don't take the risk, I don't plan. Plans can't fall through if I don't make them, right? What I'm really doing is guarding myself and refusing to live now. I'm letting fear control how I live. Even though my plans are for something a year away, the effect is very real in the present moment. Rather, than saying

 There are those who suggest that faith and spirituality provide answers. I myself used to subscribe to the John Maxwell school of ideology; life can be broken down into manageable steps. One can master the Four Leadership Steps, the Seven Ways to tap into your potential, or the Twenty-One Laws of Leadership. Just follow the rules (usually based on Scripture) and you will have control over your life. Ha! Life is always throwing us curve balls. No matter how much we like to think we are in control, life is unpredictable. That doesn't mean we go through life completely unprepared. There are certain skills and traits one can develop that actually help us live in community. Rather than rules we must adhere to, I see these as truths that enlighten us. The Ten Commandments, for example. Are they laws that demand punishment should we break them? Or are they karmic truths that say if you cheat your neighbor and treat people like property you will end up paying a price? A Rule of Life could