Thinking Out Loud, Volume DX

A friend I used to work with had been out of his office for two weeks on company business. He walked back into the office early on Monday morning, dreading having to face the mound of work that had piled up on him the previous fortnight, only to discover that he was scheduled to be at the airport in thirty minutes for a trip on the company plane. As is often seen on private company aircraft, the passenger seats faced each other, and as he was the last one arriving, he ended up sitting in the seat facing the president of the company. There was a light rain falling as they taxied out toward the end of the runway. Nothing was said in the first couple of minutes until the president's voice broke the silence, "Joe, what are your goals and what do you plan to get accomplished on this trip?" Joe squirmed uncomfortably before answering the question with another question, "Where are we going?" "Austin, Texas. Now, what do you want to accomplish?" "Uh......Why are we going to Austin?" "Joe, why are you on this plane if you don't even know where we're going?" "Uh...I've been in New York for the last two weeks and when I got to work this morning, the HR guy told me I'm supposed to be on the plane." "Well, you need to get off this plane and go back to the office if you don't have a plan for the trip." So they stopped the plane and opened the door at the end of the runway, and Joe was heard saying as he stepped out into the rain, "I'm glad we weren't in the air when we made this decision." Joe was a completely innocent party in this incident, but what good could he have done had he gone on that trip, especially since only five minutes earlier he didn't even know where they were going or why they were going there? I have another friend who has a little sign in his office that says, "YOUR lack of planning is not MY emergency." Operating without a plan is also known as "flying by the seat of your pants." I'm guilty of that much too often. I recall a time in my life when my stress level was maxed out, and I was facing a decision that was keeping me awake at night, so I called an elderly man I respected and trusted, a man who also knew a little about my situation. He said, "I can't tell you what to do, but let me give you some advice. Look down the road as far as you can see and ask yourself 'How will my decision today affect my situation when I get there?'" Basically he was saying don't do something today that will be a negative in your life tomorrow. Look ahead as far as you can, and then make a plan that will benefit you most in years to come. The King James Version of Proverbs 29:18 says, "Without a vision, the people perish..." Once a year in January, we have what's known as Vision Sunday at our church as we look forward to the years ahead, listing goals and mapping out a plan to achieve them. My wife has a little sideline business and she has a vision for where she wants to be two years down the road. Not only that, she has a definite plan as to how she will get there. There are times when she will invest money into the fulfillment of her plan when it's so tempting to use that money for new windows for the house, or a new fence for the back yard. Squirrels do the same when they store nuts for the winter, when we know they would love to eat them right away. I have running friends who will look ahead to certain marathons and they visualize themselves setting new personal records when they get there. However, those records are never met unless there is first a vision and then a plan to achieve that vision. In most cases, our vision for tomorrow will require sacrifices today. Achieving my goals for tomorrow will require that I do some things today that I may not want to do. During the first six months of the year, my income is less than what I need to get by. During the last half of the year, however, I make more than is needed. Thankfully, I've learned to think ahead during the months of plenty, and put funds aside for the six months of famine. "Without a vision, the people perish." I'm glad I didn't have to learn that the hard way. Preston