Have you wanted a desired outcome and came up with the perfect plan to get there, but your perfect plan was not all that perfect?
Where did you place your focus when that happened? On how your plan was not going perfectly or on how to still get the outcome you wanted?
What follows is a reminder that getting to the outcome we want does not have to go through the exact plan that we set.
A Perfect Plan for the Perfect Outcome
The date and location were set. We would have a house warming party at our house and use that to throw mom off . The additional plan was to celebrate mom's seventy-fifth birthday.
It was the perfect plan to get our desired outcome.
Before the party commenced and school was in session again, we wanted to have our bathroom remodeled.
We scheduled the remodeling of our master bathroom. Based on the schedule, the bathroom was to be completed at least two weeks, a week at the latest, before the party.
Perfect.
For me everything needed to be perfect. This was going to be special for mom and an opportunity for family to see our new home.
Maybe Not so Perfect
One day a text came through from our general contractor. “Sorry girls, cabinets for our current job are missing. We will have to push you out a week.”
Ok, no problem. We should still be good to go. That is to be expected with remodels.
One week turned into two.
The process was getting nerve wrecking.
We could still finish on time though.
In mid-to-late August, the demolition on the bathroom started. Once it was all gutted, with new pipes and new electricity, the initial inspections started.
Framing inspection. Passed.
Plumbing inspection. Passed.
Electrical inspection. Failed and he won't be back for another two days.
Oh no.
Our contractor confirms that will push us out, but there is work they can still do in the meantime.
This is Not Happening
No problem. Change the date of the party. Push it out a week.
The electrical inspector returns.
We failed again.
The inspector left the house. Later he returned with a neon orange sticker a little smaller than letter sized paper and two matching post-it-sized stickers that he slapped on our window.
Failed.
Stop all work.
“Stop all work??!!!” and a few choice expletives (not to him, of course).
The party. What about mom's party?
I was at Port Authority waiting for my bus home when my cousin called.
He didn't expect the ear full of yelling and not so nice words spewing out of my mouth as I told him what had happened.
Right after I screamed, “Now we can't have mom's party!!!”
He said, “Stop acting crazy. I'll call you back.”
Change in Plans
I was none to pleased with his wording, but got on the bus and waited for his call.
While I waited, all I could think was, “We can't have a party for mom now. The floor in every room was covered in dust from the construction. It is not the outcome I wanted, but there will be no party for mom. We will have to do something small and intimate.”
I was still fuming when my cousin called back. He relayed, “I spoke to my mom. She said you can have the party at her house.”
That was not the play we had drawn up, but it would have to do.
A Different Plan Still Yields Great Results
Here is what happened.
On the day of the eventual party at my aunt's house, the family filled the kitchen and adjoining dining room.
After the food had been blessed, mom told us what had been going through her mind for the past couple of weeks.
Up to that day, she had determined that, other than the dinner Kelly and I had taken her to, we weren't going to celebrate her birthday.
As each weekend after her birthday went by and there was no celebration, she had reserved it in her spirit that there would be no celebration.
After all that flipping out I had done because our plans weren't working out, all that mattered for my mom was that we celebrated seventy-five years of her life.
The Outcome that Mattered Most
It did not matter to her where it happened. Only the outcome mattered.
Mom told us she was so overwhelmed with joy that she was too excited to eat.
Heck, she told us she didn't recall what food we had available to eat.
The afternoon after the party mom shared the following in a text:
I have been up for an hour and want to let u know I am still on cloud nine. I truly appreciate all the hard work time and energy you and Kelly put in in order to make everything splendiferous. God bless you always and Kelly to. Love you Mom.
Why she was only getting up in the afternoon I don't know. It does not matter. Together with my family we had made her happy.
It was not the play we had drawn up, but it was the outcome we wanted.
What is the Outcome You Want? Focus on That
Your plan may not always work out perfectly or as you had hoped. When it doesn't, don't cut off your options or limit your possibilities. There are other means available to you for you to reach a desired outcome and have you living on cloud nine.
Your turn: Share how reached an outcome in spite of plans that fell through in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.