"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"
How apt these lyrics are. Seems like John Lennon was addressing me when he sang them.
Here I was, making plans to repair our house, working on the plans to achieve the next year's targets for myself and my team at office, dreaming and planning for the holiday with the family...
And then there was the accident.
All the plans went out of the window. Everything had to be re-organised, re-scheduled, re-oriented, re-prioritised.
Does it sound like deja vu?
It sure does to me.
I had moved to Jeddah with plans of working there for about 12-15 years, and retiring by 50. And less than 4 years later, I was back. Mom was ill and her need for us took priority over work and retirement plans.
Lest I sound like life always deals a cruel blow, let's make it clear - NO.
My plans of working in media planning changed when I got a good option in a media house, changing my career choice completely. The job offer from Jeddah came out of the blue, helping me clear off all my EMIs and get some savings to boot.
Doesn't it happen to all of us?
Just introspect. Have we become exactly what we had planned when we were in college? Are we doing exactly what we had planned just 5 years ago? Heck, what has happened to our New Year resolutions and plans just 5 months later?
It applies to organisations too. I remember reading an article by a leading businessman, in which he had said that it had never happened that his company worked exactly according to the plans made at the beginning of the year.
'The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft agley' (Robert Burns)
But does that mean that we should not plan? After all, life could deal a different hand the next instant.
Quite the contrary.
Life will always take some sudden twists and turns; we may not achieve everything that we start off planning to achieve, but it is these plans that we make - and the work that we do to achieve them - that will take us from our present state to the next, possibly better, state in life. It is what we plan that make us the person that we are.
Look at all the successful people around us. In their introspective moments, they will all confess that everything never went according to plan, but it is their plans, their dreams and their hard work that has made them so successful.
One could write so much more, and it would all revolve around the same. But instead of boring you will all of that, let me ask you to share your thoughts in your comments.
As for me, I can tell you one thing. Most of my plans may have come to naught, but working towards them has helped me achieve a huge amount of satisfaction as an individual, if nothing else.
How apt these lyrics are. Seems like John Lennon was addressing me when he sang them.
Here I was, making plans to repair our house, working on the plans to achieve the next year's targets for myself and my team at office, dreaming and planning for the holiday with the family...
And then there was the accident.
All the plans went out of the window. Everything had to be re-organised, re-scheduled, re-oriented, re-prioritised.
Does it sound like deja vu?
It sure does to me.
I had moved to Jeddah with plans of working there for about 12-15 years, and retiring by 50. And less than 4 years later, I was back. Mom was ill and her need for us took priority over work and retirement plans.
Lest I sound like life always deals a cruel blow, let's make it clear - NO.
My plans of working in media planning changed when I got a good option in a media house, changing my career choice completely. The job offer from Jeddah came out of the blue, helping me clear off all my EMIs and get some savings to boot.
Doesn't it happen to all of us?
Just introspect. Have we become exactly what we had planned when we were in college? Are we doing exactly what we had planned just 5 years ago? Heck, what has happened to our New Year resolutions and plans just 5 months later?
It applies to organisations too. I remember reading an article by a leading businessman, in which he had said that it had never happened that his company worked exactly according to the plans made at the beginning of the year.
'The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft agley' (Robert Burns)
But does that mean that we should not plan? After all, life could deal a different hand the next instant.
Quite the contrary.
Life will always take some sudden twists and turns; we may not achieve everything that we start off planning to achieve, but it is these plans that we make - and the work that we do to achieve them - that will take us from our present state to the next, possibly better, state in life. It is what we plan that make us the person that we are.
Look at all the successful people around us. In their introspective moments, they will all confess that everything never went according to plan, but it is their plans, their dreams and their hard work that has made them so successful.
One could write so much more, and it would all revolve around the same. But instead of boring you will all of that, let me ask you to share your thoughts in your comments.
As for me, I can tell you one thing. Most of my plans may have come to naught, but working towards them has helped me achieve a huge amount of satisfaction as an individual, if nothing else.
So so true, I always keep on thinking, am I the only one who gets surprised with the way my plans go to dust within few days? Circumstances change so rapidly that at times I don’t even have time to go and think what went wrong and where? And like as you said not everything that life brings is a bad, Alhamdulillah life also brings along so many pleasant surprises, things that u do not even dream of turn into realities. All that we can do is, plan, give it a best shot, whatever happens accept and move on... I loved the lyrics of one of the recent hindi movie songs “Hum sochte kuch aur hai yeh jaati kahin aur hai..yeh saali zindagi” :)
ReplyDeleteHey Mubin,
ReplyDeleteNice thoughts, It prompted me to go down my memory lane.
I realized that although circumstance and situations were thrown at me, I was always given a choice... I am now Aware of what Choice I Made.
I take Responsibility of what I will do with -what I have today.
Thanks & Regards
Salim