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Lisa's |
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The common trait that we share as Americans is
PROCRASTINATION. It should
be renamed “concrastination” because there’s nothing positive
about the word. It’s more
than mere laziness and shunning responsibilities.
As an acceptable norm in our society, self-discipline is a dying
virtue. With so many modern conveniences available to us, we still
can’t get things done that require some degree of effort.
We want what we want now, as long as we don’t have to exert or
inconvenience ourselves. Filing income taxes is a prime example of
procrastination at its finest. This
annual event has the same deadline year after year.
There’s no surprise; we all know the drill. For those overwhelmed by the process, God created CPAs.
However, year after year, people scramble around at the last
moment, running to post offices minutes before the deadline.
Others ask for extensions. Some
wait so long, they never file at all.
Isn’t it easier and less stressful to get it done and out of
the way as soon as possible? Of
course it is. But we’ve been programmed to procrastinate. Holiday shoppers turn into holiday monsters.
Christmas Day has been celebrated on December 25th each year, as
far as I recall. So, why
are such a large number of people always running around like lunatics
the night before? Many are
well-seasoned procrastinators, teaching their children the tricks of the
trade, so to speak. Others
are in a panic, feeling as though they haven’t bought enough and would
purchase the “For Sale” signs if they could as stocking stuffers out
of sheer desperation. Visiting the dentist is always a pleasure…for
me, anyway. I have no
cavities, so I go solely for annual x-rays, and cleanings twice per
year. I often hear friends
and acquaintances say, “I hate going to the dentist!”
The reason they despise going is because they ignore their teeth
until something so terrible happens that they cannot continue
procrastinating any longer. Then,
they must endure nightmarish ordeals.
Aren’t adults supposed to know that ignoring problems doesn’t
make them go away? Home repairs seem to be another one of the
procrastinators’ targets. A
few years ago, friends of mine began the project of updating their
bathroom. After tiling the
walls three quarters of the way, they ran out of tiles.
The more time passed, they less they spoke of buying more tiles
and completing the job. They
procrastinated for two whole years prior to finishing the task.
The kitchen project they tackled wasn’t done any more timely
than the bathroom. Words of
advice: A room looks better
old rather than permanently unfinished.
If you have no intention of finishing what you start, then
don’t bother remodeling in the first place. How about New Year’s resolutions?
If we truly want to make changes in our lives for the better, why
wait until a specific date? The concept of having this resolution does not imply that we
want to make fresh starts on January 1st; it states that we
don’t genuinely want to make the efforts now.
If we did, we would. It
is actually a socially acceptable way of saying, “I’ll do it
later.” I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
Instead, I try to keep New Day’s resolutions.
On any given day that I think of a way to improve my life, I
start to work on my idea as soon as I possibly can.
I file income taxes on time, finish holiday shopping in advance,
complete projects I start, with or without help from others, and show up
for my scheduled dental appointments. On time.
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