Plan A – Letting It Go

Plan A is sometimes born in my ego. I really, really want it to happen. In my mind, only good things will happen if it goes right, and only bad things will happen if I don't get what I want, how I want it. As normal, Life comes along and gifts me with reality checks – little signals that something isn't the way I thought it was. Typically, I haven't wanted real-life data interfering with my way forward. (In real Reality, I know I could use those reality checks to better my plan; but when I think I have to have it my own way, the blindfold goes over my eyes, and I am only in touch with what I see in my head, not what is presented in reality.)

Here's the pattern that gets me into trouble. Plan A is going to deliver me to some place I really want to be, I get reality checks (in the More To Life program, we call them lifeshocks – basically "wake-up's"), I ignore the data that doesn't dovetail with my strategy. The more I force Plan A, the more recalcitrant I become, the more impotent I feel (cuz forcing the issue so rarely works), the angrier I get (or caved in). 

Only when I let go of the plan in my head, open my eyes, allow the incoming data to penetrate my awareness do I see new (and usually improved) ways of going forward.

Bottom line:  the more addicted I am to having my Plan A supersede everything else, the less open I am to exploiting possibilities that would improve Plan A or even tweak it in another direction that is even more suitable to my heart's desires.

What's on offer is an art form – replacing impotence/frustration with curiosity/possibility. Not too shabby!

The secret: letting go of my demand for Plan A, while still reaching for my dream.