Man Plans, But Tough Shit

As a general rule, I don't believe in horoscopes. I find them to be pretty ridiculous, and just general enough that anybody reading them can relate somehow. The stars are astronomy, and the course of our days, weeks, or months are, as earlier stated, an outcome of the decisions we make.

This week, though, on a slow morning in the office, we decided to read our horoscopes. The horoscope said that the course I had planned for myself would be turned upside down, completely changed, a 180 transformation. Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened to me this week. My future plans went out the window, and everything changed so rapidly that I had hardly had time to digest it.

I generally don't like the phrase "man plans and G-d laughs" because I don't believe that there is a higher power that plans for us. Though, it is amazing what happens when man plans. I have always been the kind of person who sets a very clear path for myself. Sure, the plan isn't generally mainstream, but it's a plan nonetheless. While G-d might not be laughing, the universe and the many human connections that we have each day are running on a different path, "laughing" at the attempt to pave a new path that isn't meant to be paved. Really, the phrase should be that "man plans, but tough shit". As much as I can plan, the path that I'm paving might not be meant to be.

I have a poster hanging in my room with a John Lennon quote, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans". The quote used to annoy me a bit, because as I said, I'm a planner. But I'm starting to understand Mr. Lennon a little better. While I'm planning, life is happening outside, and inevitably changing my plans.

So plans turn upside down before they have the chance to play out. That's why life is dynamic. Something is always changing, turning around, falling through. But when that happens, another path is being paved in a different direction, and it's not so bad to explore new paths.

I still don't believe in horoscopes. But I do appreciate the lesson I received from mine this week. It's okay that plans change, it just makes for a more exciting future.