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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is that plans create possibilities when we spend

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Speaker 1: some time thinking about what we'd like to do, and

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Speaker 1: when we open up more options than if we see

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Speaker 1: what we feel like in the moment. I was thinking

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Speaker 1: about this episode on a recent weekend when we had

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Speaker 1: a lot of kid activities on the calendar. That's not

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Speaker 1: unusual for a family with five kids, but the fall

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Speaker 1: leaves were also at their peak. We wanted to go

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Speaker 1: explore and hike in the mountains a little more than

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Speaker 1: an hour away, so I spent some time studying the

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Speaker 1: weekend landscape. Saturday was going to be challenging, but if

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Speaker 1: we decided not to do one optional thing on Sunday,

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Speaker 1: then the first activity was going to be at two pm.

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Speaker 1: If we made sure to get up on time, we

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Speaker 1: could be in the car at eight thirty am, drive

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Speaker 1: to the Poconos, hike for the two hours our kids

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Speaker 1: are willing to tolerate, and then get back to the

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Speaker 1: house before the appointed time, and so we did. We

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Speaker 1: had a family waffle breakfast and then loaded everyone up

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Speaker 1: the fall color was so beautiful, and I was so

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Speaker 1: happy to have seen the mountains and the trees and

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Speaker 1: walked in the cool mountain air. I also realized that

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Speaker 1: there was absolutely no way we could have gotten up

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Speaker 1: on Sunday morning and just decided to do that walk.

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Speaker 1: We likely would have missed the window by waking up

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Speaker 1: thirty minutes later, and it would have been hard to

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Speaker 1: make a decision. In other words, our plans created a

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Speaker 1: possibility that wouldn't have been there otherwise. I find this

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Speaker 1: a little ironic, as often when people resist making plans,

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Speaker 1: it's because they want to leave possibilities open. When we

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Speaker 1: commit to things, at least in theory, we are saying

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Speaker 1: we won't do other things. But the issue is that

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Speaker 1: by failing to plan, we cut ourselves off from options.

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Speaker 1: There are so many things in life that absolutely won't

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Speaker 1: happen if you don't plan them. This becomes more true

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Speaker 1: as life features more moving parts. People lament that with

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Speaker 1: kid activities, or work commitments and all sorts of other things,

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Speaker 1: it is impossible to find time for fun. But that's

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Speaker 1: not true. There is space for fun, but you do

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Speaker 1: have to think about what sort of fun you'd like

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Speaker 1: to have. You have to think about when you might

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Speaker 1: do these fun things. You have to think through the

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Speaker 1: logistics when you do those things, though, then all sorts

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Speaker 1: of possibilities open up. All family members can do the

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Speaker 1: things they want to on the weekends. You can do

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Speaker 1: the things you have to do and the things you

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Speaker 1: want to do. You can find space for hobbies and

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Speaker 1: family adventures even in the middle of a full life.

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Speaker 1: So if you've got things you've been thinking that you'd

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Speaker 1: like to do, don't wait to see what you feel

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Speaker 1: like in the moment, don't wait to see what fits,

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Speaker 1: and definitely don't wait until Saturday morning to talk about

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Speaker 1: what you'll do Saturday. By the time you make a decision,

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Speaker 1: you might have cut off possibilities that might have involved

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Speaker 1: getting going when you got up instead of figuring everything out.

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Speaker 1: Plans create possibilities, they don't cut them off. I love

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Speaker 1: serendipity as much as the next person, but I have

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Speaker 1: also noticed something I encounter more wonderful serendipitous things when

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Speaker 1: I in situations like hiking in the mountains that I

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Speaker 1: am sitting at home doing nothing. In other words, plans

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Speaker 1: lead to serendipity as well. That isn't a paradox. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the moose of our time. Hey everybody, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the

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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

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Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with

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Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to

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Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit

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