Planning a party? Hire Arlee as your party performer! On the other hand, I can't make it to your party. I have other plans...
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| Pointing the way is the first step on any journey. |
Lately I've begun assembling an array of notebooks, journals, and other items that will help me to plan. For now, as I have indicated in previous posts, I am essentially still in a dreaming stage as I plot possibilities in my mind. Occasionally I've jotted down lists, pondered mental timelines, and made notes of things that might occur to me. And I've been writing down song lyrics--but more on that in an upcoming post.
There are many sayings about the wisdom as well as the futility of making plans. I don't need to fill up my thinking with negative quotes that might discourage me, but those positive quotations are not anything I need to dwell on either. Right now I need to continue down the road of thoughtful planning--strategizing with the intent of making a dream come true and for plans to make sense.
Whenever I set out on a trip I grab my road atlas in order to make the trip in my mind first. Tracing the routes on the maps, I consider which places to stay the night, what highlights we should take time to visit, or which routing will save time and money. After I've planned the route, I get online to book motel rooms and set up vacation holds on services like the mail. If my plans are meticulously made, then the trip will likely be smoother with less worry. Plans are never cinched for us, but they will usually accomplish what we need or want to do in an organized manner.
I can get away with a lot of randomness and lack of certain direction on my blog, and often in life as well. But when there is a project at stake--especially one where you have to count on others to help you accomplish what you set out to do--smart planning will facilitate that metaphorical journey that must be taken.
Whether it be a road trip journey or a metaphorical journey of dreams, the planning is what facilitates the first leg of the journey--reaching the destination. That destination is always a prelude to the next part of the journey, and the next. Life involves continual planning as well as sometimes changing those plans.
The wise thing to do is to anticipate what can go wrong and have back-up plans. After all, as we all have discovered at some time or another, plans often go far differently than we hope or expect. Once my basic plans have been laid out, then I will have to decide what do when it all turns out different. And I can probably count on that happening.
When has a well thought out plan gone down a totally different path than you thought it would? Do you tend to meticulously plan things or do you prefer others to do the planning for you? Have you ever taken off on a long road vacation without knowing where you were going to go and how long you were going to be gone?
I am a planner. As an English teacher, having a well-planned class makes it so much easier to teach and pull off a great class. Having said that, plans can be put on the backburner if the class veers onto a different route. Then I just go with the flow...
ReplyDeletehttps://seal-of-melchizedek.blogspot.com/2019/04/provo-city-centre-temple.html
Duncan, my wife, who is also a teacher, will be retiring this year. I know she's happy that she no longer will have to do lesson plans. The other kindergarten teachers will miss her because they copied hers.
DeleteLee
I am a planner - to the detail - but I married a pantser. He prefers to drive down the road and pop over to Hotels.com when we talk about stopping for the night!
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I plan trips that are "mine" - visits to my family and friends - and he is in charge of "his". When it's a mutual vacation, I plan what needs to be planned, and leave ample time for him to decide to do other things along the way. So far it's worked!
Doesn't Speak Klingon
Red, I used to be a more spontaneous traveler until I became the road manager of a touring show and had to make hotel arrangement for everyone. That got me in the habit of reserving rooms ahead of time. It's nice to know where you're going to be staying each night.
DeleteLee
I'm a planner, but my husband even more so. He'd have a meltdown if we just took off not knowing where we were going or staying.
ReplyDeleteL.Diane, but what an adventure it could be! Also it could be a bit of a disaster.
DeleteLee
Planning is what I like to do and I do it well but I always like to leave room for just venturing somewhere...or nowhere. When I went to Europe, I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see but never created a plan where it was to the hour. I have had gatherings which took a different route but you just go with the flow. My hubby and I will 5ake a day outing to go to a town in Ontario that we can drive to and come him in the same day. As for just taking off for a week and go wherever? Not yet but that is on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, day trips are nice, but epic road trips can be the ultimate travel experience in my thinking.
DeleteLee
One of my favorite saying is, "Life is what happens when you're busy planning something else." I do like to plan and I do plan whenever I can. I've also learned, from writing outlines, that plans can change and those changes don't have to ruin anything. Sometimes the change makes the plan better. I hope your plan works out like that, good, all the way!
ReplyDeleteLisa, plans are always subject to the unexpected getting in the way of them. Sometimes I think we can over plan, but when all goes well you can't really complain very much.
DeleteLee
I am a planner, I suspect that is why I did well in accounting before I moved on to computer programming. Thus, when I started writing fiction, I thought I'd continue the trend.
ReplyDeleteNope, I start with a location, some characters, and a body. I have no idea who the killer is or even how it was done (in some cases). So strange for me!
DB McNicol, author
A to Z Microfiction: Parachute
Donna, that's kind of like it goes in real life so it might make sense to write like that. Solving a crime is kind of like planning backwards in a sense, don't you think?
DeleteLee
Oh, I'm a total planner … probably too much so. (If you were to ask my husband.) When taking a trip, half the fun is in the planning. Unfortunately, when we moved from Arizona to Alabama he wanted to 'fly by the seat of our pants.' Total disaster. More than a year later, I'm still trying to forget!
ReplyDeleteMyra, I do enjoy planning a trip. We are taking our summer trip and I'm already planning it out. If I had plenty of time and money and no particular schedule to be on, I wouldn't mind taking a trip "blindly" just going from day to day, hour to hour. Might be fun, but it's always taking a chance especially when you roll into a town and realize there's a major event going on that has taken all the room availability.
DeleteLee
For me, well thought out plans are a ticket to frustration. Maybe I'd get farther not playing it by the seat of the pants method, but it flows a bit better for me.
ReplyDeleteCW, whatever works is the best rule to follow. Not everybody wants to be constrained by committed plans.
DeleteLee
My husband always wanted to do road trips without reservations or planning ahead, but after two or three unfortunate nights searching for a motel room, he came around to my way of thinking. Now we don't set out without reservations and a solid plan.
ReplyDeletePatricia, back in my road days reservationless is how we always traveled at first, but then I started acquiring a library of motel guides that I carried with us. I started calling ahead and making sure we had decent rooms at a good price. It's the best way to travel if you're staying in motels.
DeleteLee
Plotting and planning allows for the unexpected to happen in a way that can be managed I guess. I know you're not looking for any quotes but this one is short and sweet. Louis Pasteur- Chance favours the prepared mind.
ReplyDeleteSusan S. preparation is best when as many things that could go wrong are considered along with the ideal plan.
DeleteLee