It’s so easy to take everyday things for
granted: family and friends, cars, refrigeration, grocery stores, indoor
plumbing.
Remember Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? He has this remarkable
experience where he awakes to the same day, day after day. It makes him
miserable and he goes through a seemingly endless repetition of gloomy days, a
one-day season of doom. Eventually, he comes up with a plan to improve himself
– he learns piano, for example – and to help people in the small town. And, of
course, to woo Andie MacDowell (lucky boy).
It isn't until he realizes that he is only happy serving others, living
for others, that he is able to break through the mundane routine of his
day-to-day existence. The value of his life becomes obvious to him only after
he recognizes the value in life around him.
While John Lennon may have been right singing
that “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” life is
too valuable and too short to not have a plan.
As Bill Murray eventually discovered, a good
plan includes goals for making money and for giving it away. A good plan
includes time for family and for fun. A good plan includes good health habits,
diet and exercise, and mental stimulation. A good plan includes other people.
As Andie MacDowell says to Murray, “You couldn’t have planned a day like
this,” remember his response, “Well, you can. But it takes an awful lot of
work.”
I need to work on my plan.
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