Surely the most useless thing I bought in 2019 was a 2020 year planner!
But does a year ever fit into a strategic plan - or any plan?
I know that this time last year, here at ESTHERS, we had a carefully crafted strategic plan that was going to propel us into one of the most well organised and successful business years yet. Then came the opportunity to expand into QLD and within a few months we were readjusting our sails headed for the Sunshine Coast.
Our fundraising dinners are always a great example of things NOT going to plan. Learning to hold our plans loosely and continuously telling ourselves that “No matter what happens it will be our best dinner ever!’ has become crucial to getting through the months leading up to our dinners. Last minute changes and factors that were not accounted for can really throw us off rhythm. I guess that’s why we make plans – so we can control the outcome.
The thing is - in this life we can't always control the outcome... Some of the women who come to us for support are a testimony to that. Often there is so much more at stake for her than a "plan for the year." This is going to throw her life out of rhythm - not just a few weeks or months. Ernest Hemingway once wrote:
All you have to do is write one true sentence. The truest sentence that you know.
Reminding each woman that comes to us to hold onto the truest things - their values, and coming back to that truth on a constant basis helps them navigate the really hard stuff…. the unexpected, unplanned stuff.
““The beauty of unwanted crisis and pain is that it asks you to clarify with more detail what the the truest things are to you.” ”
The world will continue to change, seasons will continue to fly by quickly – on the other side of this season we will be wishing we did "more" - read more, wrote more, rested more, loved more - capturing the moments will continue to allude us. But the truest things - will remain true.
What is the truest sentence that you can hold onto right now? No one can answer that question for you.
For me it’s simply: “In a world of cancellations - hope, love and kindness aren’t cancelled.”
Hoping that you can grasp hold of the truest things for you and your family in this season.
Stay safe and go gently,