While it is understandable that many of us feel unmotivated and put off tackling mundane tasks, such as cleaning out the garage or organizing our messy cluttered drawers, for others, procrastination is a more serious debilitating life impediment. When even the thought of starting a task makes us feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and unable to move, it is safe to say that we suffer from serious procrastination. Those afflicted with this passive negative state of mind will find that the longer we postpone attending to our daily responsibilities, like paying our bills, doing our taxes, going to the doctors, or getting our car repaired, the more incrementally insurmountable these minor challenges become. This failure to accomplish even simple everyday duties undermines our self-confidence, drains our energy, exacerbates depression, affects relationships, our finances and eventually even our health.
Every time we tell ourselves that we will begin ‘tomorrow’, that we will stop procrastinating tomorrow, that will begin our diet tomorrow, that we will clean the house tomorrow, that we will give up alcohol tomorrow, we are only fooling ourselves with a false illusion. We may as well be saying that we will never do it, as tomorrow, always existing at an unreal point in the future, never arrives. We are Soul, Divine beings that exist only in the present. Wisdom is the realization that making any changes or course correction in our lives must happen now, in this moment.
If we have been putting off seeing a doctor, try just calling to make the appointment, as that will be a monumental first step. If we are planning to start a healthier eating approach and we have not been successful in the past, try, just for tonight, eating an orange after dinner, replacing our usual habit of ice cream. Though we may be unable to tackle the whole project at once, when we chip away at even the tiniest portion of it, we will shatter the underpinning and cycle of procrastination. These small victories will energize and inspire us, making us more confident and capable of carrying out ever greater challenges. With perseverance, procrastination will become a fading memory and accomplishment joyously effortless!
