It is easy for us to start carving out plans for how we hope our lives will play out. In itself making plans is not necessarily a bad thing. Problems arise because of the way we tend to interact with our plans, with attachment, as if nothing can derail them.
It is impossible to predict future events with one hundred percent accuracy, even short term. We can make an educated guess about what will happen in the next five minutes, but still nothing is set in stone. There are always unknown variables, chances for instantaneous change due to karmic actions occurring in every moment.
This is why living in the present moment is more valuable than many people realize. We tend to "fear" what is unknown to us, thus planning out and predicting the future brings us comfort. When we predict future events accurately our egos are inflated, and we are normally very happy (assuming we were predicitng something positive).
Our happiness largely depends on our adaptability in handling situations where we are faced with the unforeseen - going with the flow.
Think about a time when your carefully laid out plan did not go how you had hoped. How did you feel? Were you filled with disappoint and frustration or did you greet the new circumstances with open arms, rolling with the punches?
"Peace comes from within." It is likely you have heard or read this quote if not, than perhaps something very similar has crept though your mind at one time or another.
When we are attached to an idea of how we think something should be or how a situation should play out, we are setting out minds up for failure.
It is alright to make plans. It is very difficult to live in this world without making plans. In order for us to get to work on time, pay bills, purchase a home, or prepare for retirement, it is necessary to make soft plans. Key word in that sentence - soft.
The best way we can prepare for an uncertain future is to create reasonable plans, knowing things may not move in the direction we think they will, without being attached to our plans.
We must pay attention to what is happening right now. With an open heart and a clear mind we are able to meet situations as they arise, leaving us better equipped to modify our plans in accordance with the reality of the present moment. Being malleable is key.
In a raging flood a stone is tossed about wildly in the river, but the fish flows smoothly with the current. We must be fish, gracefully moving with the stream, not rocks jostled about roughly at the mercy of our environment.
