Wanna Make God Laugh? Make Plans February 2009
As I sat in the financial planner's office yesterday and began to think of the answer to her question,
"What is your first money memory?" I remembered my mother's coin purse and her request to go
into the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread while she waited in the car. The coin purse had
enough to purchase what we needed with some left over. I was being responsible enough to figure
out how much to hand the cashier and to ensure that I got the right change back. It was a memory
of feeling responsible and the feeling of having enough.
I always felt a sense of having enough as a child. I now realize that my parents didn't have a lot
of disposable income but I never felt a sense of missing anything that I really wanted to do or that I
really wanted to have. I think there is a fine line between being satisfied with what you have and
having a desire to continue to grow and experience and obtain a bit more than what you have now.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely satisfied to just stay where I am. I still have the drive to do
something more, to be someone better and to make a little more money for better security and the
ability to have some fun along the way. But, overall, I'm satisfied with my life. I appreciate the small
things in life like a fun or meaningful conversation with friends and family, a peaceful moment in
nature, an observation of something beautiful around me, or the memory of a meaningful
experience.
There is a balancing act between appreciating what we have and the desire for what we would
like to have. We can make plans, and we need to, in order to head in the direction of our dreams,
but when I heard Bonnie Hunt quote a saying "Wanna make God laugh? Make plans." it made me
think. Today with the volatility of the economy, the insecurity of our employment and the positive
changes beginning to take place in our government, everything seems uncertain and changing.
We can and should continue to make life plans but there is no guarantee in life that the stars will
align, the energy will shift, or the world will be as it should to allow you to do exactly what you want at
this moment. I truly believe that if we know what our most important values are, if we recognize our
strengths and liabilities, and have a realistic picture of what we are willing to do with our life, we can
travel our path, adjust to the roadblocks that present themselves, enjoy the scenery as we travel
and end up in a place that will nourish us with experiences, joys, sorrows, growth, and challenges
that make us wonderfully individual. We may be surprised at where we end up, but if we
consciously travel our path, we will have had a wonderful journey.
Take a few steps on your path, then stop and look up and around. See where you are and what
is happening. Appreciate the view. Learn from it and then either continue on the path as planned,
if it seems appropriate, or take a detour based on what has been presented to you on your path.
Flexibility and creativity seems especially important these days. Dorothy, followed the yellow brick
road (her plan) to the Emerald City, but along the way she made some detours, faced making some
difficult decisions, experienced hardships, made some valuable friends, had some great
experiences and in the end realized what she needed was inside her the whole time.
So, make those life plans but remember to listen to that voice inside, your most important voice to
listen to, and then be flexible enough when your journey comes across a washed out section of
road, to take the detours as needed. Create a new path, and enjoy every moment you can along
the way.
