Writing Our Own Playbook

**I wrote this on the plane while I was flying to UT for the holidays, but didn't find time to put it up until this morning.**

One of the first ideas that I noticed in "Force of Nature" was the idea of writing our own playbook. I have been thinking about this for a few days and while I'm quite certain that I definitely do not have the answer or insight into this idea, I do believe that it is definitely something worth considering.

Sometimes, I wonder about how much of our lives are "planned" for us and how much choice we have in determining how we spend our lives. I truly believe that we actually have quite a bit of choice, but I think that perhaps we don't take advantage of our choices. For example, I think that we allow our lives to just roll along without consciously making choices or decisions regarding our actions and attitudes. I also believe that it might be easier to let life happen than to take control over making life happen.

There is something to be said about rolling with the punches of life. I'm thinking of the proverb that says something about the trees that are flexible and bend with the wind, don't break during the storm. I absolutely believe that philosophy and agree that a necessary attitude of life is to be flexible and adaptable. However, I think there is a chance we can take this to far. For example, if we always take the easy route, like the trees that don't have to develop a deep root system blow over easy in a storm (apparently, I'm thinking about trees today), we can never truly develop and test our own personal strength and toughness.

I believe that we have an incredible opportunity to consciously decide to take control of our lives and develop them into what we want to become. We can set goals and make plans to achieve our dreams. We can make conscious, purposeful choices to be whatever we want to become. We can choose to be happy. We can choose to be successful. We can allow our passion to lead our lives and direct us to that feeling of satisfaction.

Perhaps writing a playbook for our lives seems a little silly, but to me it makes perfect sense. I was meeting with a student earlier this week who does a really great job of hearing what you say, but does an awful job at putting your advice into practice. She said that when she doesn't write things down she forgets about them in the daily grind. I think we're all like this to some extent, but in her case it's affecting her ability to pursue who careers. I kept thinking how sad this was because I think many people choose to live their lives in a similar fashion.

I know that we still have a few weeks before January 1 rolls around, but if you are considering making resolutions or setting goals, perhaps you might want to think about a bigger perspective. Perhaps, you might think about writing your life's playbook and consider how these goals will help you achieve your dreams.

Now that I've thrown this challenge out there, I guess I'll have to work on my playbook and I'm guessing some form of it will show up on this blog.