"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley"
Translation-
"The best-laid plans of mice and men
Often go wrong"
-Robert Burns
Robert Burns a.k.a Rabbie Burns or the Bard is regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is loved and celebrated worldwide. His poetry and lyrics have so influenced our society that most of us have grown up knowing some of his work without ever hearing his name.
Many of us know " my love is like a red red rose" as the jumping-off point for any budding romantic poet.
Likewise, most of us sing "auld lang syne" (Should auld acquaintance be forgotten) every new year's eve, graduation or funeral without knowing its author. To this day auld lang syne is one of the three most recited poems in the English language.
With this success, you'd think that good old Rabbie wouldn't know all that much about failed plans, but his life didn't start so easy. Robert, the oldest of seven children was the son of a poor, self-educated farmer working rented land.
Robert grew up watching his father, William, make plan after plan trying to improve their situation. these weren't hustles or get rich quick schemes, they were good honest plans meant to earn good honest money. None of these plans, however, ever seemed to work out.
Despite his integrity and his skill, William Burnes was always coming up short, he was forced to move around with his large family from farm to farm without ever being able to improve his circumstances.
Time after time Robert Burns saw his father make plans and time after time he saw those plans fail.
William died in 1784 when Robert was 25.
Do I tell you this to discourage you from making plans and trying to better yourself? No, I encourage you to plan. I tell you all this to remind you that as Epictetus tells us...
"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will."
So next time your plans do go as expected just remember that some things are beyond your control and not worth sacrificing your happiness.
-JB
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