Resolutions
Stressed from haggling with yourself over this year’s resolutions? Just remember, “don’t worry, be happy”!
According to Oliver Burkeman, the “perils of plans” may wreak havoc on our lives, causing self-disappoint-ment when we fail to achieve our goals. Goals he says, are often made not because we have thoroughly thought them out, but because we are “uncomfortable” with uncertainty and the idea of letting things happen without a precise vision.
Sara Savasvathy coined the term “effectualist” as someone who uses what skills they have as a “spring-board” to new possibilities rather than setting a goal and then figuring out how to reach it.
As a more “mature” teacher now, though I still have an agenda for each student’s progress, I wait to see what they bring into the studio every week. My plans for that day may be interrupted by a vocal or personal problem that needs ad-dressed at that moment. I then shift gears and figure out what tools I need to navigate the curve in the road.
Henry Miller said “all is change, all is flux”. But we continue to resist the notion that we can’t really control our future via a strategic course of action. Investing too much of our happiness in successfully achieving our goals and an ideal future, puts us at risk of suffering through unwelcome consequences when life takes a turn, suddenly causing our carefully laid plans to fracture.
I certainly don’t get up everyday and wing it. I admit to making lists and charting out my days, but I am less rigid about following through on all my ideas (thank goodness as some of them are not good). I like being able to change or discard them without remorse because I know another one will pop up, possibly taking me in a whole different (better) direction.
Www.brainpickings.org/2014/05/22/alan-lightman-accidental-universe-impermance
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