Is it good to always have a plan B?

I got back to the US in one very upsetting piece.

Apart from my long layover in Singapore (half of which spent on an Asian-size stone-hard recliner at Changi Airport) and my 2 endless flights (both in economy cabin without personal video screen), my jetlagged ass arrived at work Monday morning with the possibility of losing my precious little office. Apparently soon (dunno when!) they would make consultants bring our own computer and find an undesignated space to work.

My Facebook friends probably saw pictures from my cute little office – my own little space where I could close the door and shut down noises and bureaucracy from outside. So you could imagine how I felt about the threat of losing it. In that context, it’s no surprised that my over-thinking mind has been overworking to figure out actions to maintain my fortress. But as I frantically called up compassionate colleagues to vent and seek advice, my ACS shook my shoulder and told me to take a chill pill. “Let it happen first,” he said, “then worry later!”

Let it happen first? Wow, I thought this guy didn’t know me at all. Growing up with extremely careful parents, I learned to have plan B (and C and D and so on) for everything. Every action, in my mind, came in the format of “If…, then…” clauses. Naturally I would like to be as prepared as possible when something happened. Examples of unpreparedness, such as my Thai friend who stood at the crossroad of separation worried about a divorce with his partner, reinforced my propensity to over-think even more.

Then I remembered about my meeting with a friend before her wedding and she mentioned having thought about the worst case scenarios when her relationship would not work out. “Then,” she said, “I would just fly away and recreate my life somewhere else, away from this country.” At first I thought that was such a great thing – her coming into this all thought out and prepared! And then, it struck me that the action that she was about to take was not just an impulse purchase or a detour on her way home; it was a life-changing step that should have been culminated from a solid love between her and her partner. Coming into that with a worst-case scenario mentality is not the type of preparation you want at all.

Suddenly, it seemed quite ok to let things happen first before you start worrying about them…and with that, I felt that I should enjoy my office, at least when I still had it for myself.


Photo credit: Mexico - by Hang Do