Purpose Over Planning

I couldn’t help myself. I swerved and spat out my lunch in “mid-chew.” Screeching to a halt in the nearest parking lot, I hopped out my car, pointed my finger at the offensive sign, and shouted to the top of my lungs, “THAT’S THE WORST THING ANYONE COULD DO!”

The shriek of a little old lady rang in my ears, and I returned to my good senses. I immediately felt horrible for the way I’d reacted. A store clerk peeped from within a neighborhood bakery, and asked, earnestly, “Everything okay, bud?” “Absolutely not,” I snapped! “I’m tired of folks lying all the time!”

Across the street sat a freestanding building: A single-family-home-turned-insurance-office with a HUGE sign that read “Life is unpredictable! Plan for it!” The store clerk scratched his head and closed the bakery door. I heard the door lock—twice, to be exact. I turned my attention back to the little old lady, who had limped herself several blocks up the street. I decided to be on my way, as I figured the police would be arriving any moment.

Sure, I felt horrible, but I refused to condemn myself. And I knew that anyone with the slightest amount of empathy couldn’t condemn me, either. This world is full of lies, hypocrisies, and poisonous clichés. Every day we are sold falsehoods, and are told that working hard and planning make up the foundation of a secure life.

Because I agree life is unpredictable, I am somewhat challenged on the importance of planning. Of course you have your Zig Ziglars and Robert Kiyosakis who’d tell you otherwise. And the old saying “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” certainly reads like a biblical lesson. But after experiencing so many of my own plans fall through the cracks, I’ve often wondered if planning within itself was a plan to fail. Plans simply don’t work, in my humble opinion. I believe in purpose over planning

There you go again, Thomas, with all that deep sh!t. What the HELL does purpose over planning mean?

Actually, dumb ass, it’s just as it sounds. I believe in PURPOSE over PLANNING…it’s not even that deep.

Don’t get me wrong: Planning is certainly good for a boost of self-esteem, and even better as pick-up lines on a first date (yeah, chicks really dig a guy with a well-oiled and articulated plan)! But beyond the realm of pitch and paper, a plan usually proves to be nothing more than a puff of smoke.

For me, purpose is much more logical than planning. Plans are conceived, modified, and aborted, but one’s purpose is everlasting—even after their departure from this physical world! The battle is then whether to continue in our purpose in spite of setbacks, or succumb with every blueprint we dare to draft. Everything I’ve accomplished has been through belief in my purpose, not through some short or long term plan.

Here’s a secret: Moments after that episode with the insurance sign, I had actually PLANNED on apologizing to the little old lady for scaring her senseless. Needless to say the plan fell through (I don’t think I’ve ever seen an old lady limp as fast as she did)! Perhaps this is a weak example of how planning never works, and I certainly don’t expect many to agree with my sentiments. The point is to convey what we’ve known all along: That no earthly plan is greater than our life’s purpose.

It was meant for me to scare the sh!t out of that old lady. Hate it or love it, it’s a matter of “purpose over planning.”

This is your Monday Unleaded for the week of July 21, 2013. Have a productive week!

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