Planning (also called forethought) is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure someone’s capability of planning well. As such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior.
This precise and sophisticated explanation of our daily planning makes it sound very important and in our complete control.
True we must plan and set our day in motion with activities and desired goals. However, from the point of planning to the point of reaching our “plans” is another story altogether.
Most of us make our lists and set out to do whatever it is we planned.
We often feel very proud of ourselves and think of the great plans we made. Even if these thoughts are in our subconscious, we still feel very impressed with ourselves to have made such a good schedule.
Now let’s begin on a small scale and see how in any given schedule or plan, how many times they get bisected by Gods intervention. It can be missing the bus and coming late to work or sudden detours on the road directing the traffic in another direction, making you late to a very important meeting.
It can be losing one’s wallet or leaving your bag in a restaurant or in a Taxi. The list of examples is long and upsetting and I’m sure that reading this list, everyone can find themselves having experienced one or more of these situations in the past. Now other than it being very frustrating we must learn to contemplate on those times and see beyond the moment of distress to a higher force. This force, of course, is the Almighty putting up signals for us to better guide us and see our way through our journey here on earth. But even more so, it’s to have us constantly be reminded that we really do not create our plans and goals alone…
There is an old saying “Man plans and G-d laughs.”
Thank goodness most of the messages are intertwined into our daily schedule and do not set us off completely. Rather they are just like a small tap on the shoulder or even a whisper in our ear, pushing off our plans by a few hours.
However, there are times that we receive a very painful and clear message of STOP!!! Redirect your route from the beginning. This might occur with a sudden illness, or sudden firing from a job. Possibly (heaven forbid) a bad injury from an accident. These situations take you to a full stop and an evaluation of your whereabouts in this world. Suddenly all your plans and dreams come to an immediate halt.
All this is not to discourage us from planning or of dreaming.
Rather to make us fully aware that although we might be doing the planning down here, G-d up in heaven has another whole plan set out for us. When we do see a ” red light ” up ahead, wise is the person who takes note of the changes in the map and makes the necessary changes with himself, without further setbacks.
The Almighty wants us to plan, he wants us to dream, he wants us to set goals and go after them. At the same time G-d wants us to put Him into our plans and humbly realize that G-d has the last word, and not us, even if we possess very intelligent behavior.