Life is a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get…
Forrest Gump
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable…”
Dwight Eisenhower
Pretty much sums up two schools of thought when it comes to planning your life ahead.
The first believes that life is unpredictable anyways, so it doesn’t matter how or what you plan – you can never be sure of the outcome. Take life as it comes.
The second believes that life without a plan is just a wish – wandering aimlessly with no target in sight, a life less lived, one only exists…
Am sure that such thoughts would have crossed your mind many a time. Should I plan for the times ahead? Should I make my new year resolutions? Or what does it matter, since how did planning for 2020 work out anyway? Besides, 90% of people do not stick to their resolutions, so why bother?
Each one to his own. I believe that one should be able to see the road ahead, to look out for both opportunities and pitfalls, and then navigate to the best of one’s ability. Hard work and diligence, but towards an objective. Let’s leave expectations off the table. And let us not go in blindly as well.
To sum it up, a quote for all ages, situations and frames of mind. What a better way to start anew, than to meditate on this?
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi
Bhagavad Gīta 2.47
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.