Catching Up Again

Once a person falls behind, it is extremely difficult to get ahead.   This is the lesson I am learning this week.  Good intentions are not enough.  Wishing it were done is not enough.  Living a "woulda, shoulda, coulda" existence is futile.  I'm starting to sound like an addition to the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.

What is this about?  The writer of Ecclesiastes, supposedly a very wise man, records his search for many things, but repeatedly compares his actions to ". . . a chasing after the wind" and often says "this too is meaningless".  This certainly is the epitome of hopelessness.

All is not hopeless, however, even in Ecclesiastes.  Chapter 3 begins, "There is a time for everything . . ."  Ecclesiastes 9:10 tells me "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might . . ."  These verses sound like something I can use.  On the other hand, my Creator has something for me to do before I look around to see what my hand finds to do.

I am once again struggling with priorities, especially the priority stated in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness . . ."  This is so clear, stated so simply, and is the key to success of any kind.  Therefore, this is what I have to do, whether it takes me several days, or weeks.  However long it takes to develop this habit, I need to seek God before I do anything else.  I want to be able to wake in the morning and say "Thank you, Lord, for this new day.  Please show me what you want me to do today." 

First steps, baby steps, stumbling steps.

Whenever you fall, get up.

First steps, baby steps, stumbling steps.

Take His hand that is offered.

First steps, baby steps, stumbling steps.

It's alright to start again.

Procrastination Prevention

I'd like to be able to take a vitamin guaranteed to prevent procrastination.  I'm sure that such a thing does not exist. This is a typical way of thinking for me, that I'm so often looking for an outside source to fix an inside problem.  "It would be so easy if . . . "   pops up in my mind on a weekly, if not a daily basis.

In my last post, I said that intervention and assistance can come (even) from ourselves. Have you ever wanted to stay up to watch a late movie, but then told yourself "No, you need to get up early tomorrow, so you'd better not."? Have you ever "helped yourself" to a piece of pie in someone's kitchen (after they'd told you to help yourself, of course)?  So, there you have it; you can intervene and you can assist you.  What it requires to do that is something called mindfulness.  Another way of saying that is to be conscious and thoughtful of what you do, and even what you think.  Have you ever eaten something and an hour later not remembered what you ate?  If so, that is definitely an example of not using mindfulness, and is also a probably cause of my being overweight!

Lest I leave you totally overwhelmed and thinking that you might as well not even bother with what seems impossible, I have another thought to share.  Please keep in mind that I am speaking to myself here, as well as any of you reading this.  In fact, I am probably speaking mostly to myself, since I don't know you, but I do know me, so I know who needs this information.  Although intervention and assistance can come from ourselves, it can also come from another source.  He who created you, knows you.  He knows what you need, where you feel lacking.  He has said many times in many places in the Bible, "I am with you", and "I will help you".  "Call on Me and I will answer" God says.  Is anything too hard for God?  I believe not, but I also believe He is waiting for me to ask. 

Does this mean that procrastination can be "fixed"?  I think so.  However, it is a process that I have not yet mastered, and it begins with setting priorities.  My first priority needs to be a conversation with God, and then He can show the way.  This is something I really need to work on, and perhaps you do as well.  This is a starting point.  Let's start.