What's Next?

 

Projects have a finite life, and one question I get when one is ending is: “What are you going to do next, Rodney?” My answer is quite simple: “I don’t know, and I’m okay with it.” It’s not that I’m filthy rich, but I do have enough in the bank for beer, gas for the Harley, and Starbucks. 

 

It is refreshing not knowing what’s next. For so many years, I was the planner and fixer for me and everyone else in my life. When things did not go according to the rigid plan in my head, I would get bent out of shape and start doing the silly root cause analysis engineer thing. I recall laughing, and still do, at my sister: “Don’t make me drop the P word (planning) on you!” 

 

I am still an engineer with planner tendencies, but I’ve learned to work with him rather than allowing him and the pesky ego to run everything. They are parts of my life, but we all work to coexist. Engineer Rod does attempt to jump up and down with no plan, Ego Rod does question me about getting a regular check with no active billable projects, and I’m ok with-it Rod also jumps in and says, let’s see what happens. We tend to burn too much energy trying to find all the answers rather than allowing them to appear and happen. To borrow a few words from a friend: “Just let things be, and see what happens.”