Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that plans create possibilities when we spend
Speaker 1: some time thinking about what we'd like to do, and
Speaker 1: when we open up more options than if we see
Speaker 1: what we feel like in the moment. I was thinking
Speaker 1: about this episode on a recent weekend when we had
Speaker 1: a lot of kid activities on the calendar. That's not
Speaker 1: unusual for a family with five kids, but the fall
Speaker 1: leaves were also at their peak. We wanted to go
Speaker 1: explore and hike in the mountains a little more than
Speaker 1: an hour away, so I spent some time studying the
Speaker 1: weekend landscape. Saturday was going to be challenging, but if
Speaker 1: we decided not to do one optional thing on Sunday,
Speaker 1: then the first activity was going to be at two pm.
Speaker 1: If we made sure to get up on time, we
Speaker 1: could be in the car at eight thirty am, drive
Speaker 1: to the Poconos, hike for the two hours our kids
Speaker 1: are willing to tolerate, and then get back to the
Speaker 1: house before the appointed time, and so we did. We
Speaker 1: had a family waffle breakfast and then loaded everyone up
Speaker 1: the fall color was so beautiful, and I was so
Speaker 1: happy to have seen the mountains and the trees and
Speaker 1: walked in the cool mountain air. I also realized that
Speaker 1: there was absolutely no way we could have gotten up
Speaker 1: on Sunday morning and just decided to do that walk.
Speaker 1: We likely would have missed the window by waking up
Speaker 1: thirty minutes later, and it would have been hard to
Speaker 1: make a decision. In other words, our plans created a
Speaker 1: possibility that wouldn't have been there otherwise. I find this
Speaker 1: a little ironic, as often when people resist making plans,
Speaker 1: it's because they want to leave possibilities open. When we
Speaker 1: commit to things, at least in theory, we are saying
Speaker 1: we won't do other things. But the issue is that
Speaker 1: by failing to plan, we cut ourselves off from options.
Speaker 1: There are so many things in life that absolutely won't
Speaker 1: happen if you don't plan them. This becomes more true
Speaker 1: as life features more moving parts. People lament that with
Speaker 1: kid activities, or work commitments and all sorts of other things,
Speaker 1: it is impossible to find time for fun. But that's
Speaker 1: not true. There is space for fun, but you do
Speaker 1: have to think about what sort of fun you'd like
Speaker 1: to have. You have to think about when you might
Speaker 1: do these fun things. You have to think through the
Speaker 1: logistics when you do those things, though, then all sorts
Speaker 1: of possibilities open up. All family members can do the
Speaker 1: things they want to on the weekends. You can do
Speaker 1: the things you have to do and the things you
Speaker 1: want to do. You can find space for hobbies and
Speaker 1: family adventures even in the middle of a full life.
Speaker 1: So if you've got things you've been thinking that you'd
Speaker 1: like to do, don't wait to see what you feel
Speaker 1: like in the moment, don't wait to see what fits,
Speaker 1: and definitely don't wait until Saturday morning to talk about
Speaker 1: what you'll do Saturday. By the time you make a decision,
Speaker 1: you might have cut off possibilities that might have involved
Speaker 1: getting going when you got up instead of figuring everything out.
Speaker 1: Plans create possibilities, they don't cut them off. I love
Speaker 1: serendipity as much as the next person, but I have
Speaker 1: also noticed something I encounter more wonderful serendipitous things when
Speaker 1: I'm in situations like hiking in the mountains that I
Speaker 1: am sitting at home doing nothing. In other words, plans
Speaker 1: lead to serendipity as well. That isn't a paradox. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's
Speaker 1: to making the moose of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
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