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DayeTime: Planning and doing

There's an old saying: Those who fail to plan plan to fail. Then there are those with the philosophy, "Some plan while others do."

The Avoyelles Police Jury recently had two discussions on "master plans" for the parish. One was a plan-in-hand from the Spring Bayou Lake Commission. The other was a call to begin the process for a parishwide plan.

The Spring Bayou plan could be an important part of an overall plan for economic development and tourism enhancement. The plan addresses the major issues of the Spring Bayou complex -- dredging channels to enhance boating and drainage, maintaining a healthy wildlife/fish habitat, addressing water level controls and finding a way to bring more water into Spring Bayou, which would help to attain the other three.

The overall plan is still in the "planning to plan" phase.

So, what good is a plan anyway?

While pondering that question, I came up with an example from everyday life.

Let's say the husband has been tasked with going to the store to buy the necessary items for a Saturday party at their house. The wife sits down and writes a detailed shopping list.

The man can (A) say "Thanks, Honey," gratefully take the shopping list and then embark on his mission or (B) say to himself, "I know how to shop and I know what we need," and leave the list on the dining room table.

Which of those is the wisest course of action? Which is more likely to result in no marinara sauce for the spaghetti being served to guests at the party?

So let's assume Hubby is not an idiot and he dutifully goes to the store with his list. In this example, we will also assume that Honey knows what she needs but her needs out-distance her assets.

Now the person given the responsibility for implementing the plan has to improvise and make adjustments. In short, he has moved from the first old saying and finds himself in the middle of the second old saying. Plan has been made. Now it's time to "do."

So there may be grilled cheese sandwiches instead of spaghetti and meatballs for the party, but the party will go forward. Next time, spaghetti and meatballs. Or maybe tuna fish salad and then spaghetti and meatballs. Eventually, we will have spaghetti and meatballs.

Right now the important thing is to keep these planning processes moving forward. 

Spring Bayou is an important ecosystem and well worth saving and improving even if it weren't also one of the parish's best opportunities for tourism.

It's been awhile since all of the political, business, education and civic leaders got together to discuss the state of the parish and what should be done to ensure a bright, prosperous and secure future in all aspects of Avoyelles Parish society.

It's well past time.

The bank account will no doubt be shorter than the shopping list. We all know that going into the process. However, a good plan is essential for success and the items we need will be at the store later when we have the money to buy them and put on the kind of party we have planned.

At the end of the day, if we find ourselves with no marinara sauce, let it be because we had to buy what we could with the resources we had, and not because we just plain forgot we needed marinara sauce.

AVOYELLES JOURNAL
BUNKIE RECORD
MARKSVILLE WEEKLY

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