The Pressure of Plans

You feel it almost every day. The pressure to have plans. You feel it from social media, from Joe and Sally down the street, from your family, your friends, and even from yourself. It seems like everybody’s got some grand plan in their back pocket.

The pressure of plans can stop you dead in your tracks. It can be quite defeating to feel like you’re a failure simply because you don’t have plans for the weekend. Or because you don’t even know where to start with your five-year plan. Or because it seems like everybody’s got their plans figured out but you. 

Heck, I even felt that this past weekend when our plans had to totally change thanks to a broken AC in the camper. We wasted precious time by watching those around us post about their wonderful weekend adventures that went perfectly according to plan while sulking that ours didn’t.

And if we’re not careful, this pressure can keep us from fully embracing and finding joy in the current moment, so we must do all that we can to learn a heart of contentment no matter what plans come to pass and what plans don’t. So to the one who may not have their plans all laid out for the next five years, next month, next week, next day, or even the next hour, let’s dive into some ways we can give up this pressure and instead step into the purpose of the moment we’re in.

Reach out

So often we find ourselves sulking or feeling bad because we see all the fun things people are doing and wonder why we weren’t invited or why they don’t like us. When we have this mindset, we start playing victim and can fall into the trap of bitterness.

We can’t be afraid to be the ones to reach out. Call someone up! Invite them in! Take them out for coffee! Sometimes we forget that we can be the ones to initiate going out and doing something. I think you’d be surprised at how many false narratives you play out in your head if you took the time to reach out to those people who didn’t invite you or “don’t like you” and simply invite them in.

Philippians 2:4 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Accept rest

In a culture and society that is constantly go, go, go, it can feel like we’re failing if we’re simply choosing to sit our butts on the couch and rest. May I remind you that God, the Creator of this universe, even took a day to rest, and there’s a reason He calls us to do the same. You will drive yourself absolutely bonkers if all you do is go 100 mph. Take a break from the constant striving and just breathe for a sec. You are not lazy because of a Sunday nap. You are not behind because you choose to watch an episode of Fixer Upper. You are human. Take a breath, and give yourself some time to rest.

Genesis 2:2-3 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

Quit comparing

If you’re constantly concerned with other people’s plans, you will never be satisfied with your own. You can’t keep looking at what your neighbor or family member or Sally down the street is doing and constantly wonder if you’re keeping up or doing as much. Because quite honestly, “keeping up with the Joneses” will quite literally drive you mad. There will always be someone out there with better things, better looks, better jokes, and better plans, so you have to learn how to understand that you were not created to compete against them. You were created to create community with them. To encourage them. To love on them. To invite them in.

When you’re so focused on the plans of those around you, you miss out on the very plan God has you living out today.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Engage the senses

One thing I’ve been doing lately when I find myself discontented or focused on the wrong things is focusing on engaging all my senses. I breathe in and smell the air around me, listen to every sound, focus on what I’m touching, look up at what’s in front of me… Engaging all the senses can get us into the present moment and help us focus on what’s in front of our own two eyes and under our own two feet.

Try it sometime. Feel the sunshine. Listen to the birds. It may just recenter your heart and mind.

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Practice gratitude

A while back I was in a job I did not like. I would struggle going to work each day, but a practice I got into the habit of doing was picking out three things that I was grateful for and thanking God for them on my way to work. 

This very habit can help you focus on the good things in your life rather than sulking in all the bad. Be thankful for the plan God does have you stepping into today, and verbally express your appreciation for the good stuff in your life at this very moment.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Ask & knock

If you find yourself constantly discontented, maybe it’s time you ask God where He wants you. So often we can get trapped into thinking that we must live our lives a certain way because the world tells us to. Or have plans because the world wants to make them for us. 

Ask God to show you where He wants you. Ask Him to open the right doors. You might have to wait in the hallway for a while, but I guarantee a grand door will be opened right before you. Just keep knocking.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them.”

The bottom line is that if we focus on the plans of others and how ours don’t measure up, we will always feel bogged down by that pressure. But if we start choosing to be present, to give ourselves some grace, and to not be afraid to reach out and knock, we might just learn to be content with the very plan God has us in today.