"The best-laid plans of mice and men."
Robert Burns wrote a poem named "To a Mouse" in 1786. It's the story of how he overturned a mouse's house while plowing a field. He wrote the poem as an apology to the mouse. It just goes to show that having a good plan isn't always the key to success. All of us have plans, and a plan is a good thing. When my dad taught me to play chess, he would invariably remind me, "It's necessary to have a plan before making your opening move."
But the hard truth is, having a good plan is never enough.
There's an old joke
"Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.".
Preparation is vital, but for routine success, you've got to be able to improvise. As Marines put it, adapt and overcome.
Want to know a secret? The key ingredient to experiencing peace and satisfaction is making God a fundamental part of all plans. That's helped me in the long run. It took me a long time to learn it, but my life became much better on many levels once I did.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wildly successful millionaire with a Ferrari in the driveway. But knowing the Lord has taught me patience. He's taught me to be comfortable with the fact that things are not always going to go right while we are here. I would dare to say, having this relationship with God gives me peace when things go wrong.
I'm not a preacher, but I've got to put this in here.
Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 11
(when you get a chance, read the whole chapter)
2 Corinthians 11
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.
Talk about things going wrong. If anyone knew how to handle things going "wrong," it was Paul.
Here here are some key things you can do when things go wrong.
- 1Pray for God's guidance and strength. Prayer gives me peace of mind.
- 2Mama always says, "this too shall pass." Everything on Earth is temporary. Nothing here lasts forever. Keep your head up and remember what's going right, even the small things. Stop focusing on the negative. Think like a proton stay positive.
- 3Ask for help. Never be too proud or too afraid to reach out and get advice and help from family, friends. Get professional help when you need it. If your roof leaks every time it rains, you're going to call a roofer, right?
- 4Keep in mind that you always have some control in every situation. It may not seem like much, but it's essential for you to control your attitude and to think before you react.
- 5Learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are opportunities to improve. Put what you learned into practice and change. Don't keep making the same mistake over and over again." When you make a mistake, admit it, learn from it, fix it, and move on.
- 6God can help you handle it. Remember, God didn't bring you this far to just leave you hanging
- 7Something good will come out of this. It's not unusual for good things to come out of bad situations. You might have to look really close. You may even need a microscope to see it but, very few things in life are all bad.
- 8Accept what's out of your control. Don't waste time and energy trying to change things that you can't. For instance, trying to change someone else's mind. There comes the point when you have to realize there's nothing I can do about some situations. The only thing you can do is accept it. An attitude of acceptance has given me peace in the past.
- 9Remember how you overcame problems in the past. I've used this strategy repeatedly. I had a wonderful Armenian friend, God bless his soul, who used to always say, "remember the stuff you've overcome in the past." He would always remind me to remember my time in the Marines. As I started to recall things I had overcome in the past it always gave me extra strength to face the challenge at hand.
- 10When the sky is falling, and everything seems to be going wrong, Make sure to get some rest, don't forget to exercise; it's essential to eat right and get good nutrition. Go watch a movie, or go to the beach. I like to take a drive down PCH. Take care of yourself, and it will be easier to deal with your problems.
What's helped you get through things going wrong? I'd love it if you help grow my list and add some things that you do to get through hard times. Leave a comment below. Thanks
Be careful out there.
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