I’m trying to maximize my days off more recently, but sometimes Saturdays without anything planned turn out the best.

This Saturday, I’m starting the day by heading out on vacation with the fam to somewhere sunny. No complaints for sure.

Last Saturday, I woke up with nothing planned and a small voice in my head was telling me I should be annoyed that I wasn’t going on a hike or that we weren’t heading off to do something “memorable”.

The day is going to be wasted!!! That was my expectation.

Ridiculous and childish, I know. But that is my brain sometimes.

Once I let it go, I actually started having the best Saturday.

On a whim, my wife and I took the kids and dog to a local woodland park nearby with boardwalks all around and the kids rode their bikes.

It turned into a pretty decent hike and the kids had a blast.

Then, just before a massive rainstorm hit, we ducked into a local coffee shop and got some refreshment.

After we got home, my son and I stayed in the house while the rainstorm raged outside and played with his skateboards, then set up a race track in the hallway, and eventually spent a good half-hour running and hiding from a battery-powered robot that was hunting us down.

After dinner the storm cleared and my daughter and I got out on a walk with the dog, just the two of us, and it was beautiful.

My expectations for the unplanned Saturday were completely wrong.

Now I’m off to my very planned Saturday (and week) ahead.

I’ll try to keep away from any expectations.