Written by Hilary Scott
“Plans are nothing, but planning is everything.”
Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space
I recently heard a speech by the remarkable Dr. Kathryn Sullivan. A geologist and astronaut, a woman of great courage and intellect, Dr. Sullivan has explored both space and sea.
In her lecture 1, Dr. Sullivan explains that work in space requires “constant and rapid adaptation and change.”
When something goes amiss on a space mission, the shuttle team immediately works together to devise a new plan that addresses its changed circumstances. However brilliant and cherished any original plan might have seemed, if it’s no longer viable, it’s scratched and they move on.
While we are not all astronauts, we are all the stewards of our own lives and responsible for our choices. Us earthbound women often face serious life changing situations — pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, cancer, illness and surgery — challenges that temporarily or permanently void our plans. What then?
It’s appropriate, healthy and necessary to mourn the loss of a life plan or dream. Accepting new circumstances and reinventing ourselves isn’t easy. However, believing that we will never be as happy as we might have been — if only our plan wasn’t ruined — that’s a harsh life sentence of joylessness to impose on ourselves.
When Plan A fails, we can use our wisdom and creativity, and reach out to the people we love and trust, to devise a new course of action. Planning is essential because it gives us hope and goals to work toward. Keeping an open heart and mind is just as important. When we find the strength to change, we save ourselves from despair.
1 Reaching for the Stars [sound recording] delivered by Kathryn Sullivan. [Chautauqua, N.Y.] : Chautauqua Institution ; [Prince Frederick, Md.] : Distributed by Recorded Books,