Have you noticed that your plans seldom turn out the way you planned? Have you noticed that you feel more in "control" if you put a plan in place, even if it doesn't work out? Do you feel compelled to have your life, or at least, your days planned out? But what really happens to our cherished plans?

After I dropped my daughter off at school, I headed home planning to jump back into bed, catch up on a couple more hours of sleep, then get up and begin doing a tele-course outline. That was the plan.

Instead, as I approached a major intersection, I noticed two cars skewed onto the sidewalk billowing dust and smoke. An inner voice said "stop and help". I jumped out of my car running toward a teenage girl who had blood flowing from her forehead. The 16-year old boy who was driving was on his cell phone noticeably panicked raking his hands through his hair.

The girl was shaking like a wet cat. There was only one thing to do while waiting for the paramedics. Hug her and speak calmly. The young 15-year old on her way to the same High School I had just left, was supposed to be on the bus.

There I was standing in slippers, in my pajamas, hair completely wild and uncombed, teeth un-brushed and breath reeking of the night's sleep. Who gets dressed to drop their kid off a mile down the road when she plans on coming back home and jumping back into bed?

Does this sound familiar to you? You begin your day outlining exactly what you need to do--the tasks, the chores, the activities--only to find at the end of the day (week, month, year) that what you had planned did not unfold the way you had designed it. So what is the value of a plan, and how does that help us to listen and follow inner guidance?

Planning helps us to organize our thinking, prioritize our activities, and place our attention on those tasks that are most important and valuable to us. Yet, it seems that something else directs the actual unfolding of those plans, and yes, it may even rearrange the priorities a bit. Following the sensations of inner guidance, the distinct inner sensations that told me to stop, leads us to what is most important. It was more important that I help at the accident scene than to climb back into bed.

Here's the critical question. Can you have a plan, but not be attached to the plan, so that you can recognize and follow the inner sensations of guidance? In the next article, you'll learn how to have your plans and not be attached to them . . . and get it all done anyway!