Her name is Jennifer Nachshen. She beat me by at least two years. I had what I thought was a great little idea. Nothing earth-shaking. It’s just a clever, pithy little concept for the name and topic of a blog article. The one you’re reading right now.
I was standing in the kitchen on the morning of the 4th of July (as I write, that was a few minutes ago), contemplating what to make for breakfast. I had been invited to two parties on the lake and still hadn’t decided which one to go to. I didn’t know where I’d be going to celebrate Independence Day, let alone what to eat for breakfast! I asked myself, “What will your plan be?”
That’s when the mental light bulb flicked on. “Cool!” I said to myself. “A twist on the phrase Plan B. My next article will be about what to do when things don’t go as planned. What’s your Plan B? Or maybe we should just plan to… be!” 
Not yet sure whether I was a wise man or merely a wise ass, I thought to Google the phrase “my plan be.” That’s when I happened upon Jennifer’s refreshing blog. Under the main heading of Miss Nachshen’s site, it says, “What happens when life doesn’t go as planned? Let go of Plan A. Stop planning. Be.”
She beat me to the punch. She dedicated an entire blog to the concept. That’s when I thought to myself that about a thousand other people – folks who happened to be somewhat less bloggy than myself and Jennifer Nachshen – also had to have used the phrase at some point. Maybe they also initially thought, if only for a moment, they’d come up with an original, clever turn of phrase. At any rate, realizing that idea wasn’t really my idea was something about which I was quickly able to recover and move on.
Miss Nachshen deserves credit as she’s written a fantastic blog, and, though she discontinued it, My Plan Be is definitely worth checking out. The idea around which she centered her blog is a big-time obstacle blaster if it can be adopted and unapologetically lived.
Stop planning so much. Quit with the goals. Just be.
So, someone’s already run with my article idea and made it into an entire blog. I asked myself, “What now?”
I replied without a pause, “Since it’s lunchtime, I had better eat breakfast immediately. Then, will I head on over to Lee and Kim’s place? Or will I crash the party at Carter and Kristin’s place?” I tell my hungry self that I will figure it out after I enjoy brunch. That’s the definite plan.
Impressed with my bold decisiveness, I says to myself, I says, “Nice one, Jim! Way to… be!”
The above article was first written on Independence Day 2011. I was single at the time and determined not to re-live the mistakes that had cost me so much in my business and personal life. Three-and-a-half years later, I married a different Jennifer. The lovely obstacle blaster of the Edwards clan. My best friend.
The My Plan Be blog still exists on the Internet.
Click here to give it a read… https://myplanbe.wordpress.com/
