Still Procrastinating
I know better but I still procrastinate way more than I should. It is only in recent years that I have begun to understand that by the time I get around to dealing with what I have been avoiding that putting it off was often a foolish choice. If I was concerned about a negative outcome, it never turns out to be as bad. If I avoid something or put it on the back burner because I cannot seem to muster the interest, I find that the process or outcome was quite interesting indeed.
Last year I tried something new. I tried to find the opposite of procrastination (I never did find the right word), and live into that. Not just being proactive but being certain of the outcome and choosing that outcome to be positive and powerful. That worked well for some time despite old habits rearing their ugly head. I would find myself off course and would only wake up to that fact when I was waaaay off course.
It is a new year now and I still procrastinate but now I am more aware of it and have the option of getting back on course sooner. I also find that it has been showing up in small ways that I never really noticed before. I’ve put off watching a particular movie or TV show waiting for the right mood to strike me and find that all I’ve really done is put off a good experience I could have had sooner. I’ve put off overdue conversations with friends only to realize that the result of actually having that conversation is far better than the discomfort and stress that exists during all the time I avoided it.
There is a saying I’ve heard that goes something like, “Just say YES!” It sounds way too new age for me on the face of it but there may be something there I can use. Maybe I need to take a better look at what I say “NO” to or at least the situations that I say “LATER” to. How much better could my life be if there was no procrastination in it? What would that kind of life look like?
