Unplanned

You know, sometimes the best things are unplanned.

Seriously. Every time I try to plan something, I feel like it goes down the gutter. Just, absolutely demolished. Ka-boom. But sometimes, the rebel side of me takes ahold. For some odd reason, I decide to do something unplanned, unscripted and almost completely uncontrolled.

I mean, think about it. Does a bird really plan where it'll be next winter? "Oh hey guys, I think it would be so awesome to take a flight down to the Bahamas during migration season, what do you all think?" Clearly that's not what happens. They know they have to go somewhere, so they just go, and look how well it turns out for them!

So why don't we do more things unplanned? Why are so many of us so obsessed with being the control freak of our own lives? I'll tell you why: because we're afraid of failure. That if we don't plan it, that everything will explode into a billion tiny pieces and that the stove will catch on fire while the doorknobs burst, the fridge will fall on you and realtors will... well, cheat you out, I guess. But that's the whole problem with planning— it sets you up for failure.

Without a plan, you're bound to succeed because there's no plan with which to determine success or failure! If you plan on going to a concert and find out that they're sold out, start deciding where to eat! If your favorite store is under renovations, ask Siri what's fun around town (or check Foursquare, if you're really feeling adventurous). I can guarantee you that in almost every circumstance, there will be an alternative to your original thought process.

Now, I definitely don't want to discourage planning because clearly planning is a huge portion of our lives. We plan our weekly activities, we plan our money flow—heck, my mom even plans the next WEEK of meals. But hey, that doesn't mean that we never go out to eat after church or grab some frozen yogurt after a meal! The trick revolves around being flexible.

People tell me all the time that I'm a very "go-with-the-flow guy." I have no idea where they get that, but I feel like I hear it often enough to mention. I mean, I'm not going to lie: I try real hard to be that kind of person. Seriously, if no one can decide where to go for dinner, I'll open Foursquare on my phone and find some random, high-rated restaurants around town to dine at. Heck, I could care less if we eat burgers or Mexican food, just as long as it's not sea food, I'm fine.

I'd be willing to bet $10 that you could tell me exactly why we're not more innately good at "going with the flow." You guessed it: the fear of failure. We're afraid that if we're not in complete control of what we're eating, when we're eating and why we're eating, that we'll fail. Fail what, you might ask? Oh goodness, there's a plethora of things you could fail at, even just with the topic of eating. Some people are afraid of failing their diet. Some people are on a diet so they don't fail their spouse or significant other. Some just don't want to fail society. Or maybe they're afraid that others will look at them as a failure because of how, why or what they eat.

But how do we get rid of this horrible dreading, this monstrosity of a hopelessness hanging over our heads? To be completely honest, you can't. There is absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it; the fear of failure is imbedded into our DNA. Louie Giglio, the pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, once said these words at a leadership conference I attended: "You can't do it, but YOU can do it." What he means here is simple. By ourselves, we are nothing. We can't do anything. We might think that we can, just as a child might think he can fly when he jumps off a rock, but we honestly can't. But when we ask God to be on our side, we can do it.

So when you think about it, overcoming fear of failure is easy. Whether you're going unplanned or scripted word for word, all you have to do is ask. Ask Him to take away your fear of failure, and anything* is possible.


*Under the laws of physics and within God's overall plan for your life (e.g. not drowning attempting to breath under water)