Being Organized and Well Planned Always Works!!- Really?

At different points in life, we have been adviced to always stay organized and plan ahead so as to receive satisfaction and be happy.

But does it really always work? Would you rather NOT plan ahead and let things or the mystery of the future unfold?

Just for example-

• Let's say- You planned a relaxing outing with your friends and were really looking forward to it, it turns out that most of your friends don’t turn up. Feel let down don’t you?
• Or, the time you wanted to surprise a friend and had everything planned up and organized, but things didn’t turn out to be as planned, you’d feel disappointed wouldn’t you?
  
  

Think about it, Why do we feel disappointed?

Because, things don’t turn out to be as you had expected or imagined them to be. What we all do is, we judge a situation, or a person’s reaction prior to its occurrence then when it doesn’t happen according to our prior plan or imagination, we feel disappointed.

I’m not really asking you to not plan ever. It is okay to plan in situations like:

• Planning and organizing everything few days (or week) before a conference meeting,
• or an exam,
• or a competition...

In these kinds of situations it would be important (practical) to plan ahead of time and stay organized.

If you go into some situations without any kind of mind plan or imagination of the outcome (expectations) whatsoever you would find a surprise waiting for you, since obviously you don’t know what’s waiting for you ahead, and the experience of seeing the mystery of the future unfold naturally without trying to imagine, plan, or expect what lays ahead, turns out to be a very pleasant experience. (Try it out, all you need to do is, clear your mind, and let the nature take its course.)

Research conducted by J.K. Galbraith shows that the people who usually plan only for those practical situations where planning ahead is needed are more often in a joyous and pleasant mood than those who plan for every part and situation of their life.

Why not able to still let go thinking/planning about the future?

There’s a reason why we can’t let go of thinking about the future, and planning for the situation that lies ahead, and that is “fear”. We all have fear of not knowing what’s going to happen in the future. Fear about tomorrow, fear about not having enough money in future, or fear about losing someone you love. And so to protect ourselves from the pain of fear and anxiety, we sometimes in some situations have this layer of planning (like a mask) at every step of our life, that prevents us from enjoying our life as it comes in its natural form.

So give it a shot!!! Let go of that fear for once and see how beautiful life can get without those plans and expectations of yours.



"Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we're going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now."
-- Pema Chödrön

~Sneha Kukreja