Make A List But CHECK IT TWICE!

"Man plans, and God laughs."

---Yiddish Proverb

"Make time for planning. Wars are won in the General's tent."

---Steven Covey

AUTHOR NOTE: This column was supposed to published last week. Except I forgot to actually submit it to Chris and Mary, your fearless editors. That is what we call "Irony" in the English major world. Everyone else just calls it stupidity. See updates in parenthesis Enjoy.

 I am confident that I don't have multiple personalities (there was a Facebook quiz, I aced it) but regarding the organization, planning, and staying on task I do bounce between the two extremes. It's healthy to realize that not every plan you make is going to work out, but you can't just stumble through life with no direction, no road map of where you want to go and what you want to do. At least that's what people tell me.

Lists tend to work for me, neatly written on a calendar (not always, clearly.) Each day has a few items on it and in a perfect world, the end of the day comes, and everything is checked off. That literally has never happened, but hope springs eternal. Some of it might have more to do with the items on the list than my poor planning skills. It's good to set the bar high, but seriously at times, the list looks about as realistic as a fantasy baseball roster. Last week one of the tasks was "Clean the basement." The basement has never been cleaned; by me or anyone else. Now and then I go down there, make sure no woodland creatures are living under the laundry hamper, grab the toilet paper to stock the hall closet and come back upstairs. Sure, the TP would be a lot easier to access if there weren't twelve boxes of macaroni and cheese and a bag of "giveaway clothes" in the way, but no one who knows me thinks that will ever change.

 

So, whatever, it's the basement, it's not like the Queen is coming for tea and will want to see it, so not getting it done doesn't bother me. The daily lists are mostly suggestions for me. The science articles have to get done, and always do because being employed is a necessity, but after that, it's a crapshoot (or an epic fail, either way.) One of my favorite movies is "Gone With the Wind" because Katy Scarlett O'Hara is one sharp-tongued Irish girl. She said, "After all, tomorrow is another day." In my house, it means there's another list, but that's how it goes.

Once the daily stuff is out the way, what about long range plans? Careers, finances, and all the rest are much bigger issues than chores (Is USA Today hiring was one issue I considered last week.) Should I have a 20-year plan? What about a ten-year plan? In twenty years I will be in my 70s, and while I plan to stay healthy and active, it's a safe bet that my 70s won't be nearly as much fun as the 1970s were. In those days gone by, my to-do list didn't exist. The goals were to ride my bike to the store and spend as much time as possible on the beach with my friends. Looking two decades down the road means strategizing about mutual funds and long-term care insurance. Honestly, I think I'd rather clean the basement.

Plan or don't, that's the question (Pro tip: Plan, trust me on this.) Perhaps a middle ground needs to be found, where sometimes you let go, and sometimes you stick to the list? There was one time in my life that involved almost no plans and worked out perfectly. I wanted to take my oldest to Ireland; it was something that was important to me, to show him part of his heritage. We got plane tickets, reserved a rental car and booked the first night's lodging. I didn't do another thing except for ordering the Tourist Board's book of B&Bs.

It was three solid weeks of getting in the car (on the wrong side) and driving around to wherever looked good on the map. Once we stayed in a town for two days because a local pub had the most delicious Shepard's Pie ever. We wandered aimlessly and got lost more times than I can count. At one point we were driving down a country road and had to stop because a mule wouldn't get out of the way. Another time a group of boys ran up to the car asking, "Stop! Oi! Are you lost then?" I smiled and said, "No, this is the way I want to go, thanks!"  I'm not one to be shouted at by hooligans. 

500 yards down the road the ocean appeared, almost out of thin air. In Ireland, they farm right up to the water's edge. Reversing a car that's built backward, up a boggy unpaved road is quite the experience. The boys were still there, chuckling, and I said, "Well, that was grand then, wasn't it?" I think another trip is in order because lately, I've come to believe that plans are overrated. Ireland Escape 2018? Sure, it'll be brilliant (if I don't forget to buy tickets.)