Short-term and Long-term planning: everything in its season

     You are crossing a street at a crosswalk and a bus is hurtling towards you. Short-term planning says to get out of the way of the bus immediately. Long-term planning may have to do with bus lanes, protection on the crosswalks, a pedestrian bridge, better signals (both directions) or something else that will reduce the chance of this danger from reoccurring. If you don't follow through on the short-term planning then you may not be around to take care of long-term planning. If you don't get long-term planning underway then, even if you successfully move out of the way, eventually someone will be hit.
     When a farmer wants to plant a seed, they must wait until the time is right. But first, they must prepare the soil. Preparation of the soil, planting, weeding, harvesting becomes a cyclical process with seeds from the harvest (perhaps) being used in the next planting. The farmer must be aware of how the crops interact with the soil so that the cycle can continue. Fertilizer may be needed on a regular basis -- or perhaps the crops rotated with nitrogen-fixing plants to restore the fertility of the land. Care of the land is in long-term planning. Short-term is each step in the process leading to the short-term goal of the harvest. If the soil is not taken care of, it will eventually not be able to be used to grow crops. If the crops are not grown, there will be no food for the people to take care of the land.
     In many situations, long-term planning is set by a goal. Short-term planning takes you along a path to reach that goal. The path sustains the journey to the goal. There should always be a goal and there should always be a journey. In order for this to happen, long-term planning must adapt based on the journey.
     For businesses, the long-term goal is often called a "mission statement" while the context of the business within society is called a "vision statement". In some cases, the "vision statement" is also indicative of the lifetime of the organization. For example, the vision statement of the Alzheimer's Association is "a world without Alzheimer's disease". Once Alzheimer's disease is eliminated, the reason of existence for the Alzheimer's Association is gone.
     For this reason, an ongoing mission statement should either be prepared to be modified by the journey or it should be so encompassing that the journey will never end. If, for example, a Cancer opposing organizing wanted a statement which would not arrive (at least not in my ability to dream), they would expand to "a world with everyone mentally and physically well". Once cancer was conquered, the organization can continue to the next physical disease -- or the next mental ailment -- and move forward.
     Commercial businesses also my have mission statements and vision statements. There are some truly inspiring mission and vision statements. A problem exists, unfortunately, in that the business must survive in order to attempt to achieve their mission statement. This usually involves cash flow since, in our current society, people and companies need income to survive. Short-term survival can blind a person, or a company, to the needs of long-term survival and both can affect the feasibility of the mission or vision statement. It is all too easy to narrow one's perceptions to the next moment and not evaluate the actions according to the broader statements. In a more personal context, the Biblical quote arises that "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".
     We can only do our best and attempt to keep our long-term plans in mind while dealing with short-term needs.