"Nothing I have planned has turned out"…
I heard a guy say this at work the other day and as always it got me to thinking. Plans. We all have them, we have all made them, and more than likely will continue to do so.
I also heard this saying several times before…"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Bullshit, I say.

First, let me get this out of the way. Planning is certainly beneficial and gives you some guidance and structure to life. There, I said it. Now moving on.

The very essence of planning is the belief that we have control one way or another over things or circumstances. The problem with planning is two distinct equations. One is ourselves. The second is other people. Both of these are problems to our planning and the thought that we have some kind of control over the future. We don't. Most people have a hard time getting their day to turn out right, much less their future. Why? Because they keep getting in their own way. If they do not, than other people do.

Plans are an illusion. Think over the last year or so and count how many times things turned out exactly like you planned. How many of us had dreams and plans following high school that are now a vivid part of our memories? How about the one you loved and were going to marry? Where are they? How about that degree you have? The untimely death of a loved one?

My point to this short story is that we have no control over anything because people are involved. People are fluid. They change from moment to moment. People can be unpredictable at all times. How many car wrecks have you seen or been involved in? Point proven.

The only thing we can truly control is our responses to the changes that happen. Life is always changing. "Living" is a verb. Our lives are an evolving organism. It changes shape daily, as it should.