The Agony of Planning Too Far Ahead

I do it every time. I over plan, over prepare, and work myself to exhaustion with the false idea it will give me some control over the future. Then, the circumstances change, rendering all my work useless. What did I gain? Nothing, except precious moments I can never reclaim.

The story of the rich man in the Bible is a good example of wasting one’s life, and sadly, I am far too much like him. He figured once he had built enough barns to store several years of harvest, he could relax and enjoy life. He was foolish, wasting his life working toward a goal he would not live to see completed. He thought he was wise. I thought the same of my foolish shenanigans, until things changed and all my work proved useless.

Jesus said, “Be not solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.”  Matthew 6:34

I wish I had listened and enjoyed more of the good things God provided in the present. It is far better to make tentative plans for the future — without over planning or over preparing. As someone once told me, “If you don’t like what is happening today, wait six months. It will all change.” In my experience, things can change much sooner than that, and right when I least expect the change.  

The final reprimand came from, 1 Corinthians 3:19. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written: ‘I will catch the wise in their own craftiness.’”

Caught, all I could do was shake my head and laugh. Maybe I finally learned my lesson about the endless To-Do-List, the one extending months in advance. Perhaps I should model myself a bit more like Aesop’s grasshopper, with only a tiny bit of ant mixed in….

Are You Listening?

Photo by Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net        

I don't always listen. Even in my more advanced age, I still act like a willful child and try my way first. Sometimes that’s a good idea, other times I pay a painful price for not heeding the advice of those more experienced.

One of those painful lessons happened recently. Writing pros suggest one of the best methods of self-editing and proofreading is to read the text aloud. I tried, but found the chore tedious, not to mention tough on the voice, and in my infinite wisdom decided to skip that part. Oh, I did submit the manuscript to my critique partner and to Beta Readers, but after implementing their suggestions and corrections, I took it upon myself to make some further changes. Not wrong, by any means, until I did the proofreading myself, without showing it to anyone else, or following the pros advice to read the new text aloud.

The result? I am now hanging my head in shame over simple mistakes that could have been avoided, if only I had listened to those who tried to advise me. I am going through each book and correcting the errors, but I cringe thinking about how many flawed copies are now floating around out there in cyberspace — forever — because of my laziness, not to mention stubbornness.