The Freedom Of A Good Plan (The Friday Ficks S6 E39)

Bring “3 changes of underwear.”

Seriously. That’s what the letter said. My fifth-grade principal sent it to my parents in anticipation of our four-day field trip to Washington, DC, in May 1974. “Please give these communications your serious attention,” he wrote, because the information concerned “the health and safety of your child.”

Unearthing the letter was like opening a time capsule. The “General Clothes Directions” warned us that there were “NO Sneakers” and “NO New Shoes,” while reminding us to bring a “[t]oothbrush and paste.” And then there was the telephone tree - a pyramid of parents who would call other parents, who would call other parents, until everyone knew what they needed to know.

I laughed at the formality of it all. But then I realized how seriously the school took its responsibility for 44 eleven-year-olds.

The trip was meticulously planned. Every day was broken into 30-minute increments, from “rise and shine” at 7:00 a.m. to “light’s out” at 9:30 p.m., with meals, sightseeing and transportation carefully mapped out in between.

The result? A four-day trip that went off without a hitch, and memories that have lasted more than five decades.

That old itinerary reminded me of something simple. Planning creates freedom, and while it doesn't eliminate surprises, it gives you a better chance of handling them.

You might plan for college, careers, businesses, retirement, and emergencies. Yet sometimes you move through your life with less intentionality than you bring to a four-day trip.

What deserves a little more planning in your life right now?

A good plan isn't about controlling life. It's about creating the freedom to experience it more fully.

Here’s my only question about that fifth-grade plan. Three changes of underwear for four days? Seriously? That one still needs explaining.

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl