Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)

Posted on August 23, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with one comment

Procratinating. Will I or won’t I?

 

Procrastination: the action of delaying or postponing something.

“He who hesitates is lost.” Joseph Addison

I was thinking about writing a piece about procrastination, but I think I’ll wait until next week.

Therin lies the problem with procrastination. It is so much easier to put things off instead of just taking action and “getting ‘er done.”

The list is very long:

I’m going to clean out the freezer.

I’m going to organize the garage.

I’m going to travel to (name your country) before I’m too old.

I’m going to get my act together and lose some weight.

I’m going to quit smoking.

When a person is young, they can afford to put things off. I was a financial planner and very often I heard clients say that they would start saving for retirement after the kids left home or after taking a big trip. And very often, that didn’t happen.

“Time is on myside, yes it is,

Time is on my side, yes it is.”

Time is on my side – The Rolling Stones

Except when it isn’t.

There’s no procrastinating when you have a vicious toothache. It needs attention and you will stand outside a dentist’s home at 1:00 in the morning, banging on his door, to get some relief.

There’s no procrastination when you’re on a road trip and your gas gauge is on empty.

Urgency requires action.

The flip side of procrastination is impulsiveness- acting without forethought.

I often look back on my life and wonder if I have been impulsive. Certainly, there are things that, in retrospect, could have been done more judiciously. We can all say that. Every one of us has made a purchase that we regretted 30 minutes later. Or said something in the heat of battle that left scars. We’re human after all.

Being impulsive can get you into a heap of trouble. On the other hand, being decisive can reap big rewards.

Decisive: having or showing the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively.

It’s much more difficult to be decisive when you are younger and haven’t accumulated enough mileage, knowledge, or scar tissue. Experience gives a person confidence and as we get older, we are much better positioned to size things up quickly and to take action. Sadly, some people never reach this level of self-actualization and spend their entire lives second guessing and putting things off until conditions are ideal. This just in. Conditions are never ideal.

I often say that I am lucky. I refer to it as the “accident of birth”. My mother was fearless and decisive. She never waited until all the stars were aligned properly. She dove in headfirst, never being afraid to try new things. I think I inherited some of that Irish DNA! Agreed, when you dive in headfirst, without checking the depth of the water, you can get a nasty bump on your head but that’s all part of the learning curve of which I spoke about earlier.

I’m now 72. I don’t have time to procrastinate any more. At this age, what in the hell are we waiting for?

Saw this the other day on Facebook.

“Choice. Chance. Change.

You must make the choice,

to take the chance

if you want anything,

In life to change.”

Author unknown

If not now, when?

Have a great weekend.