Many years ago a reporter asked the hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky, what made him so much better than all the other hockey players? Wayne answered that he always skated to where the puck was going, not where it was. Planning made Wayne Gretzky a superstar! It made all the difference for him, and it can for you too!

In light of this, however, remember that there are very few Wayne Gretzkys out there. Most of us really don't take the time to plan out our lives. It just seems like its too much work. Maybe some people think it’s just not important enough. Many times we tell ourselves that we seemed to get by just fine today, so I guess I’ll get by just fine tomorrow too. So all that extra mental energy of planning isn't really all that necessary after all.

Most people, however, do tend to invest that extra mental energy of planning out our summer vacations. Many of us will spend more time planning a trip over the summer than we will over our lives. You would never get in your car and just point it south if you wanted to go to Disney World. You would probably look at a map and plan out a route to get there. You would most likely know about how far you wanted to drive each day and about where you were going to stop and sleep for the night. We are usually willing to plan this much, but when it comes to our overall lives we just seem to leave it to chance.

I believe most people don’t plan to fail in life; they only fail to plan. It’s sort of like the story of someone taking a lazy ride down a beautiful peaceful river on a spring day. He has no problems and is just enjoying the scenery and admiring the sights and sounds of the river. He is at complete peace with how beautiful the day and the world is at that exact moment in his life. He is even thankful and appreciative of how easy the going is down this beautiful river. In fact, as the day wears on it seems like the going is getting even easier and more fruitful by the moment because he seems to be going faster and faster with less and less effort. “Ah, what a great day!”- this person tells himself. What could be better than this? What could possibly go wrong?

Then all of a sudden, a rumbling is heard and he wonders what could that noise be? The sound is getting louder. What is that sound? The sound is getting LOUDER! “I’m not so sure I like this!” he tell himself. Now the sound is roaring and it is almost deafening.

“I know this isn’t good.” he tells himself as he can feel the thickness of the air and the tightness in his chest. As their canoe comes around the corner, his questions are unfortunately answered.

That thundering noise is a huge waterfall. He has been paddling this whole time toward the Niagara Falls and didn’t even know it! He never planned for this to happen. In fact, nothing had been planned at all… It was suppose to be a lazy day! He had failed to plan… Now he realizes the error of his ways. He painfully thinks about how he felt like a superstar just a short time ago. But the super stardom wasn't real; it was really just a mirage.

If only he had planned a little better; he might have been that superstar that he had been dreaming about for real!

Teens, don’t let this happen to you. Plan your day and plan your life. Be like Wayne Gretzky and skate to where the puck is going. If you do, you may be surprised at how fast you move past your competition who is only skating to where the puck presently is. If you do this, you'll score, and in the end, you may indeed become that superstar! Now, teens, go learn, lead, and lay the way with a plan for a better world for all of us. Thanks in advance.

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