Life Has A Vote

-Devlyn Steele

The event is unimportant, the response is everything.

I Ching

You're so excited as the day draws closer. You have been planning your dream get away vacation for a long time. You put away money week by week and researched the best deals. You've thought about this vacation for a long time and finally the day is approaching. You can't wait to get there and strip down to your bathing suit and just lay out and relax.

Upon arrival it's one of the most beautiful days you have seen. You breathe in the warm air and smile. The air smells like flowers and you feel relaxed. You get your bags and travel to the resort and everything seems perfect. You check in and do exactly what you have planned, you strip down to your bathing suit and go out by the pool and lay down. Life is perfect.  

As you are laying there the wind picks up a little and then a little more and all of a sudden the sky gets dark and then a loud boom followed by a down pour. You rush inside and ask about the weather. Apparently a tropical storm that wasn't  supposed to hit the island had changed course. You ask, "What does that mean?" You know that's a silly question, but it just doesn't make sense to you. You can't understand it, you have this under control. You've made plans and you know how it's supposed to go.

So even though you know what that means you just can't make sense of it. You ask a different way. "How long will it last?"  You are thinking an hour or two, or maybe you'll lose the day. You're quickly readjusting in your mind to make up for the lost day. This is your vacation, the one you skipped for years and now you are finally here, you know how you're going to spend it. As you are going through your plans in your mind the answer to your question comes. "These storms can take three to five days to pass through." That could be most of your entire vacation, what are you going to do now?

The military is regarded as one of the most detailed and planning organizations in the world.  They spend the majority of the time planning and training how to execute those plans. They review their plans and plan over and over. Yet it is said that regardless of the detail of planning the military is also an organization that never gets to execute a plan. Why is that? The expression comes down to, "The enemy has a vote." As much as they plan, they are not in control of the changes that the enemy forces can throw at them.

Life is the same way. It is not your enemy, but we cannot control it and life will throw at you what it will regardless of your plans, because, "life has a vote." Regardless, we push that thought aside and make our plans. We plan based on how we envision our lives to be. We fall in love, get married, have kids, get the house and the great family. We've working towards our plans, and then the relationship falls apart and we get divorced, or we find out we can't have kids. Endless different scenarios arise that we just didn't plan for.

Your career is on track and then a recession hits. You're running your business and the money you thought you had doesn't materialize. You're sure to get the athletic scholarship and then you get injured. Endless plans we make and endless situations can happen, as life has a vote. From the big life plans to the daily routines that get set off course by traffic, unexpected demands on your time, etc. The idea of control is an illusion.  We want to believe we're in control, but life has a vote. Does it mean you should stop planning? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that you have to be flexible. The only thing you truly are in control of is how you respond to what life throws at you.

Do you get negative and bitter when your plans don't deliver what you want? Can you instead adjust and figure out how to make the best alternate plans and move on with a positive attitude?  In the military they compensate for the idea that they cannot follow plans by making sure that each mission includes what is called, "Commanders Intent."

"The Commander's Intent describes the desired end state. It is a concise expression of the purpose."

What that means is that as long as each person in the operation knows what the final objective is, they can respond to what is not planned for to achieve it.

For example, something happened and you couldn't make it to the gym. Then take fifteen minutes and go for a walk, stretch, etc. If your purpose is to exercise find a way regardless even if you cannot follow your original plans. If you are on vacation and the weather turns bad, then find a great book, or discover some other way to relax and enjoy it regardless of the plans you made. From big plans to the small daily routines, know your intent. Your intent should be to find solutions and opportunities.  Don't concentrate on the things that aren't happening the way you intended in your life. Focus on what you can do to make things the best you can, given the changing circumstances you weren't expecting. 

Develop a "Life Intent." Make your intent to focus on opportunities. The idea of control over life is an illusion, however you do have one control. You have control over how you respond to life's vote.