Plan + Less
December is here again. It is that time of the year where we sit and try to make some sense of the happenings of the last year of our lives. We tally the success against the failure, the happy moments against the bad, friends made to friends lost, money spent to money saved, time saved to time wasted. We try to cumulate all aspects of the past year to learn and better steer our lives for the coming 365 days. We don’t just introspect in December. Based on our sentiments of the past year; we make resolutions- WE PLAN!
Conventionally “PLANNING” is a good thing. After all most of our life is spent trying to know more about what we do not know. Planning gives us the edge and removes our fear of the unknown. It is our way of saying ‘look here life, I have a plan and you had better act accordingly’. In retrospect however do these plans and resolutions actually move us closer to what we want to achieve or does it restrict us from being flexible to appreciate what is outside of our plans.
If there is one thing that this year has taught me, it is the importance of accommodating the unknown and allowing for variable change. I have always been the guy who draws energy from the known. I like to be informed and I plan meticulously to the point where a deviation is almost impossibility. Fortunately for me my experience thus far had never exposed me to sit and ponder over the feasibility of my approach. This year did exactly that.
We live in a world where we have developed our forecasting ability to the extent where its failure is a controlled occurrence. We train ourselves regressively and choose our environments wisely so as to not move out of our comfort zone. Everything around us is planned and so we mould our expectations and desires around things where we are certain of our success. Our institutions, be it educational or otherwise are built on the principle of maximization, maximizing the probability of attaining our desires. The repetition of such an exercise over the years has led to a gradual decline of our ability to adjust, adopt and pull down our inborn resilience to stand up after a fall.
If there is one characteristic of life that can’t be denied, it is its spontaneity. Some consider this very nature frightening and try to plan their way around it, while others embrace it and try to dance along to its tune. So this January when you ponder over your resolution ask yourself which one you would like to be. If you ever plan, plan to be surprised. Plan to just have a sense of direction. It is wise to ask questions of your plans when conceptualizing but never refrain from grasping all the opportunity that life throws your way. Opportunity is a rough tide; while debating the potential risk from a wrong entry, it passes on to those daring enough to challenge. Here is wishing that we challenge the coming year head on. Though we can’t be “Planless”, I hope we do plan less and be more open to embrace surprises that define our lives.
