25 more letters

Sometimes I have a “Plan A” to resolve problems or work through a situation. Too often, though, Plan A fails. I often joke that the motto of my life could be, “OK, new plan!” Because I’ve had so many experiences where Plan A just didn’t work out the way I had hoped. For this reason, one of my sayings is, “Always have a Plan B!”

But for some reason or another, I did not have a Plan B for a certain situation I hoped I had worked out. I just thought Plan A was enough. But today I learned that it was NOT enough! Admittedly, I did not think my plan through. Today, I sat down to do just that, just to see if it would REALLY work. I was really disappointed to discover that, unless I won the lottery or got a huge ghostwriting contract, it was not going to work. Darn!

And, I know, I shoulda just been okay with that. But I wasn’t. I was really bummed. I thought this plan was going to do it and, stupidly, I had my heart set on accomplishing this goal with THIS plan. That was my mistake. I should not have attached myself emotionally to making that plan work. Because I got so upset when realizing it wasn’t going to work. And while I know I gotta figure out something else, I am dealing with the disappointment of that plan not being the right one to accomplish this goal.

Then I remembered a quote I have seen before: "If Plan A doesn't work, the alphabet has 25 more letters." I have actually had to use those extra letters before. Once, when I was trying to do something, Plan A did not work. So I switched to Plan B. That didn’t work either! As I transitioned to Plan C, I started to grumble to myself, “How many letters of the alphabet do I have to go through before I find something that works!??!!”

Eventually, I did get done what I needed to do. It took several tries and lots of brainstorming but it finally happened.

I tried to console myself with this thought today but it didn’t help. Even so, I did come up with a new plan today. But then I realized that plan, Plan B, would not work either. So now I am on Plan C. This new plan changes everything but hopefully I will reach the end result that I hope to accomplish. I just want to accomplish this goal. Even if I have to take care of it until my last breath!

I am glad I came up with a better plan and I have a feeling that this one will work. From all that, I have learned that I have to avoid getting too set on a plan. Many times I have reminded myself to “stick to the plan” for some thing or another, but sometimes a plan just won’t work the way originally thought. Plans need to change or be dropped altogether. If Plan A doesn’t work out, then move to Plan B. And if Plan B also fails, keep going through the rest of the alphabet until a better plan surfaces.