The older I get the more I realize the benefit of a
plan. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of
those, “Plan the work then work the plan.” sorts of guys. But I have come around to the idea that a
lack of plan is equal to a lack of direction.
Pooh and Piglet can tell you all about what happens when you
lack direction.
The reason I am not PtWtWtP is because that isn’t
creative. It’s rigid. You are ignoring the words of James who warns
that we should not brag about plans for next year because we don’t know what is
going to happen but instead plan and then roll with the punches. If there is a drought we shan’t have any
crops to sell in the far city.
I don’t think I’ve used “shan’t” in this blog before. Maybe in anything. Silly Downton Abbey.
So what am I saying? That
you need a plan but you shouldn’t follow it?
Not exactly. There’s a lot out
there on the internet about making plans flexible and I don’t have anything to
add. That’s a personal thing.
I’m just saying you need a plan in the first place.
When I was growing up, the principal often used "shan't" in normal conversations and over the PA system. Since he was our model, many of us incorporated the word into our speech. I liked the word.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about my contemporaries, but SUNY Oneonta certainly made it a mission to purge the word from my spoken and written vocabulary! None of my professors was gracious about it and two chose to mock me in front of the class after writing acerbic comments on my paper.
During the intervening five decades I have occasionally used the word. I nearly always get a reaction to it. I remember once at an English Department meeting saying, "I shan't allow myself to become too distressed over that." One of the teachers said, "This is serious! Use English." I was being serious.
I think I have enough white hair to resurrect "shan't" from the attic of my lexicon and dust off the cobwebs. Feel free to join me.