One of our most distinguishing characteristics as humans is the practice of "overplanning". We often imagine numerous possibilities and scenarios, as well as reactions to those possibilities. We mostly do this to plan how we want our lives to turn out. For example, a person might plan their life in this manner. They may say, "If I finish school at 25, I can get a job at 26, buy my first car at 28, marry at 29, have two children, and retire at 45." This may appear to be genius planning at times, but it is usually a shallow way of underestimating life's uncertainties.
Some of the life plans we consider to be pure ingenuity are simply the result of ignorance, or an oversight of life's complexity. The majority of what we consider to be simple is simply something we do not understand. People believe that things they do not understand cannot happen to them, but this is false. Life has shown that it has no respect for anyone. Some people say, "I am too young to be broke, I am too young to be sick and bedridden, I am too beautiful to be single, or I am too intelligent to be failing in life."
What we do not understand is that there is no causality or purpose to how people's lives unfold. When I was younger, I thought only the elderly had high blood pressure, but I discovered I had some of the highest blood pressure when I was in my mid-20s. Life does not wait for people to reach a certain life parameter or condition before it happens to them, which is why we should not believe that certain things will never happen to us. Keeping this in mind reduces your proclivity for excessive planning.
Some people have flawless plans, but life intervenes. It simply means that what we consider to be perfect and solid can be altered or destroyed by life itself. It was similar to how the Titanic was not designed to sink, but the people who built it did not consider what caused it to sink.
People do not, however, intentionally underestimate life; rather, they do so due to inexperience and a limited perspective. One's point of view can be skewed by their perception of life, which is why we must look at life from various angles in order to truly learn lessons that will not be handed to us on a silver platter.
There are few certainties in life, but the fact that we mostly live repetitive lives gives us a sense of continuity. People who have grown accustomed to a consistent, unchanging pattern in their lives tend to overplan. People who have been through the thick and thin are more wary of life; they have seen both the good and the bad, making it difficult to maintain a stable mindset or outlook on life.
There are people who planned to become wealthy with their current jobs, but lost them along the way, then got another job and lost it due to unfortunate circumstances. It will be difficult for them to see longevity in whatever jobs they take on in the future, because they have learned that no matter how solid their plans are, they still need a lot of factors beyond their control to work in their favor. In reality, there are few things over which we have control, but we frequently believe that what we can control in life outweighs what we cannot.
Setting Risky Timelines
Some people feel in control of their lives because they are fortunate. However, we truly do not have control over the majority of the things we have been fortunate enough to possess, and the moment we begin to lose these things, we begin to truly understand. We are excellent learners, but we learn best through experience, which means that we wait for things to happen to us before learning. There are people who understand the dangers and toxicity of alcohol.
They know the people it has ruined, but they say things like, "Oh, when I reach 40, I will stop drinking and live a healthy life." They say this without checking their status, believing that because they are not exhibiting any symptoms, they are fine.
In Conclusion
Overplanning makes it difficult to see the current risks and uncertainties. We mostly look forward to the future while remaining uncertain about the present. Overplanning has serious consequences; unless we understand how it can go wrong, it is difficult to change one's tactics and approach to life. People lose everything they have worked so hard to build, or they die just as they are about to start enjoying what they have created.
Knowing that you may not be able to enjoy the things you have created after they have been built makes you appreciate life. It is critical to learn life's most profound lessons in order to adopt a new perspective and redefine what we are truly living for.
*The Bible" in Proverb 3:5 says lean on the Lord and trust not in your own understanding. Our understanding can be mostly logical, but life can present an illogical from, it's clear the why the word of God's say we cannot even trust in the things we understand. This only means our knowledge and understanding will be forever limited to what we can only apply logic to.
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