Mary’s Minute
“The best-laid plans of
mice and men often go awry.”
~ Robert Burns
This
quote from a Robert Burns poem, To a
Mouse, popularized by the title of the John Steinbeck novel, reminds us
that we are not in control of our lives.
Like the little mouse who worked and worked to build a house in a field
only to have a farmer destroy it with the swift work of a plow, we never know
in life when our plans will be plowed under.
As humans we definitely are planners and not only are we planners, but
we are worriers. The mouse “plans” but
likely does not worry about the potential for plans going awry. When the mouse’s plans do not work out, it
likely quickly moves onto another plan without dwelling on the past and
worrying about the future. Planning is
certainly necessary in life, but we need to be cautious so that we do not plan
so much that when our plans do not work out that we are paralyzed. We could learn from the mouse to not take
life so seriously! The realization that
plans can go awry is our call to be flexible and to recognize that life is
bigger than us. No matter how much we
want to think that we are in control, we are not. The real key to our success is being able to
deal with that ambiguity in life.
I want to
give a shout-out to Mrs. Rasche and her class for inspiring me through my
observation of their discussion of this quote!
Keep
planning and striving for excellence, but remember that when your best made
plans go awry, the key to success is being able to adapt. Our success is less about what happens to us,
and more about how we react to what happens.
Have a great week!
Mary
