Monday, February 25, 2008

Planning Ahead


I must say that planning ahead for anything is a pain, unless you're a detail freak. I have a bit of a perfectionist side, but when it comes to planning ahead I totally suck. Maybe it's the love for the unexpected that keeps me from putting a pulse on that aspect of daily life.

I remember a story a car salesman once told me about the days when he used to go door to door selling cleaning products. He bravely knocked on people's doors hoping to find a buyer behind the peep-hole. On this one occassion, as he stared down at the floor he could hear footsteps approaching on the other side of the door. The door swung open, and there, much to his delight, was a young woman wearing nothing but an open silk bathrobe. Without skipping a beat, he gazed at her ample chest and said "Hello, hello", greeting each breast respectively.

I don't know that this is an original story, or one that salesmen pass on from one unsuspecting listener to another like an urban legend, but it's the best example of learning to love the unexpected that I've heard yet.

I don't have a peep-hole in my front door, so if I ever decide to try this unexpected greeting on my husband, I'll have to pray that when the doorbell rings it isn't the milkman. Then again, if I plan ahead, I just might get my milk delivered for free.

1 comment:

Richard Witham said...

Lol: that's a great joke! I was seeing it my mind as it developed.

I'm not a big fan of planning ahead and even have a hard time thinking of what I'm going to prepare for dinner until I'm standing in front of the fridge with a light head and a growling stomach.

One recent experience where planning ahead would have made a big difference, and which is also a great example for your blog title, happened over the holidays.

I went on a lot of short photo shoots to nearby towns along the Sea of Cortez, but I'd been there before and longed for something new.

It wasn't until the end of the holidays when I checked google maps to identify the places in my photos that I saw a big looping highway along the Sea of Cortez.

Wow! I thought. I could have spent several days along that highway seeing new places and taking interesting photos. I probably wouldn't have spent any more than I did going back and forth to the same towns on the same old roads, and it would have been more of an adventure.

Well, at least now I know how I'm going to spend the next long holiday ... and I'll start planning now :)