The Pitfalls of Planning
Do you ever wonder why you make any plans for the future at all? I do. You see I have repeatedly had the experience of my plans taking a 180 degree turn. In fact it has happened so frequently that I made a plan to NOT plan. Uh huh, you heard me right. No planning for me. Every time I come up with a grand plan I find myself looking back and wondering what happened to it?
For example, I moved to Juneau a year ago April. My first time to Juneau was the day I moved here. I stepped off the plane into this amazing new place and instantly fell in love. However, did I think three years ago that I would be living in Juneau AK attending University of Alaska Southeast? The answer is no, I would not, and yet here I dwell.
So, after living here for a year I was convinced that I would remain here. I planned to finish school at UAS Juneau and teach up north forever. At the age of 26 I had grown accustomed to a single life and the freedom to go when and where I pleased (even if that included packing up all my stuff and moving north to AK.) I pictured myself remaining that way for the rest of my life. Then again as I said before I should NOT plan. I settled into this idea and then out of nowhere came a man. I was entirely blind-sided by the whole thing. When I least expected it I found something I had resigned to put on a shelf, the prospect of marriage and kids. You might be wondering why that’s an issue or at the very least why it veers too far off my plan. I could just alter the plan enough to incorporate a husband and kids, right? Seems simple enough except there is one glitch...He lives in Hawaii. Yeah not just down the street or across the valley. Nope he lives across an ocean. This is EXACTLY why I should never plan.
I’m not sure if this phenomenon about planning is solely mine or if others have shared the pitfalls of planning as well. It is always intriguing to me how life takes such wild turns and I can’t help but wonder if we were able to know how things would turn out would we still follow through or instead hide our heads in the sand?
For example, I moved to Juneau a year ago April. My first time to Juneau was the day I moved here. I stepped off the plane into this amazing new place and instantly fell in love. However, did I think three years ago that I would be living in Juneau AK attending University of Alaska Southeast? The answer is no, I would not, and yet here I dwell.
So, after living here for a year I was convinced that I would remain here. I planned to finish school at UAS Juneau and teach up north forever. At the age of 26 I had grown accustomed to a single life and the freedom to go when and where I pleased (even if that included packing up all my stuff and moving north to AK.) I pictured myself remaining that way for the rest of my life. Then again as I said before I should NOT plan. I settled into this idea and then out of nowhere came a man. I was entirely blind-sided by the whole thing. When I least expected it I found something I had resigned to put on a shelf, the prospect of marriage and kids. You might be wondering why that’s an issue or at the very least why it veers too far off my plan. I could just alter the plan enough to incorporate a husband and kids, right? Seems simple enough except there is one glitch...He lives in Hawaii. Yeah not just down the street or across the valley. Nope he lives across an ocean. This is EXACTLY why I should never plan.
I’m not sure if this phenomenon about planning is solely mine or if others have shared the pitfalls of planning as well. It is always intriguing to me how life takes such wild turns and I can’t help but wonder if we were able to know how things would turn out would we still follow through or instead hide our heads in the sand?
2 Comments:
Planning is just that. Plan on the unexpected. It will occur at all stages of life. I too use to plan... heavily in fact. Now I just plan for the next week. This does not apply to planning for retirement or saving for college.
I want to plan for the future when it comes to my money but planning for everything else is so pointless and a missionary click story: back when I was younger. I went to this beautiful country and met this guy than a first we couldn't stand each other but then our hate turned into friendship. When I left that country and came back home to the US. I started making plans for the future, and I share them with him. But I made a big mistake. I started making plans and forgot to include him in them. This is my one big regret in life, and I am still learning from it so bad to planning or if you start planning for something. Keep an open mind that it can change and most likely well.
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