You don't have to stop planning

Of all the reasons people hold back on properly exploring the Innate Health understanding and properly relaxing back into the flow of life, I think it’s planning.

Boy, do we love to plan!

I love to plan too, I get it. The thing is, minds get pointed in the direction I’m pointing in, they hear things like this:

…and they conclude,

📦🗣️ “Oh, that means I can’t plan. I have to just live Now, because that’s all there is. Oh dear. That doesn’t sound like much fun. I don’t want to do that. Right… where’s the Unsubscribe button?”

Yeah? Ring any bells?

(It's at the bottom of every email, for the record.)

The MECHANICS of ‘presence’

This is just what minds do: Create a belief about how something is, then look for evidence to support it, so it gets properly embedded 🙄

‘Presence’, for want of a better word, is something that the mind likes to think it’s got a pretty good handle on (I wrote about that here, in this previous Very Good Daily Reminder™)

And the belief it so often holds, is that one, above:

Which of course is utter b*llocks.

Some planning I do regularly

So I plan all the time. And you will too. It’s impossible not to. It’s part of being human.

In fact it’s one of the big benefits of being human – having the ability to create imaginary futures, through the power of Thought. Got us to the moon, and stuff like that.

Take for instance, the big bike rides I do. They take huge amounts of planning, especially when it comes to the route. I spend an inordinate amount of time poring over maps: Ordnance Survey maps; the Strava ‘Heat map’ (which tells you how popular a route is); maps of what the wind will be doing on various parts of the route; and maps of everywhere I’ve already been.

Why do I plan like this?

Is it to control the outcome?

Hmmm, maybe a little bit. (I don’t want to just end up on a dual carriageway, cos I haven’t planned my route to avoid them.)

But mostly, it’s because I love it. I love maps!! Maps are awesome!!

They stimulate my imagination—how will the territory compare with the image the map has created in my mind?—and I get to enjoy the experience twice: once in my head, and then in reality.

But here’s the crucial bit:

I don’t expect any of it to come true.

(Which is another way of saying I don’t attach to outcome.)

I can’t predict the future, any more than you can. I’m not in control of what happens. I know what I want, but I’m cool with whatever happens.

“Man plans, God laughs.”

You’ve heard that one before, yes?

Well, that, then.

Plan all you like. And then have fun showing up for any, and every outcome.

The thing to remember is that you are built to thrive in reality, which is the present moment.

You have an innate capacity to respond to anything life throws at you.

So whatever happens… you’re good to go!

😎

An example of plans going awry

On that best ever/ill-fated ride I did last weekend, I planned a stop in Brecon, where there’s a tap on the outside of a car dealership, that I can re-fill my water bottles at. It’s a life-saver. I use it every time I go past and I literally plan what, and how much, I will put in my bottles, off the back of that tap.

So on Sunday I rock up, having meted out my fluid intake precisely and timing the emptying of my bottle to perfection, only to find… the tap doesn’t bloody work any more!!!

😱

What do I do? Lose my sh*t? Cry? Get really sad, or angry? Hammer on the door of the car dealership, demanding water? Jack it all in and go home? Bemoan the fact that the universe is conspiring against me and life is unfair? Read into the situation, as if it’s a bad omen for the rest of the ride?

No – that’s all either attaching to the outcome I had imagined (i.e.guaranteed water), or merely superstitious mind-activity mumbo-jumbo.

I’m peak human: built to thrive in the present moment.

So I immediately come up with another idea: buy some water in a shop.

Simples.

We’re talking Principles here

This is a silly little example with an obvious resolution, but the human operating system only works in one way, so this same process is going on with every plan you make.

• You don’t get to control the outcome, however ‘well’ you plan. (Because really, planning’s just mind narration, too.)
• You’re peak human, designed to thrive in the present moment and be responsive to anything life throws at you.
• Whatever happens, you’re good to go.

😎

Giles

p.s. Disagree with this one? Let me know how I'm wrong, in the comments!

Mentioned above

Presence is contextual

Allowing the mind to dictate what presence should feel like precludes us from experiencing it 🤨

The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft