First of all, the "P" word. That's Procrastination and all the cousins: procrastinate, procrastinator, procrastinated, procrastinting, procrastinatively, procrastinatingly, procrastinative, procrastinatory, and procrastinativeness. Whew! Who knew there were so many ways to put things off till tomorrow!?
In fact, that's the origin of this word: tomorrow; that's cras in Latin. Or, as my Spanish friend would say, "Manana!" The root idea is putting something off till tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. Why put off till tomorrow what you can put off till the next day? I believe this has been my motto of late.
For example, I had an assignment to do. I'd known about this assignment since the middle of August. I knew the deadline was September 19. Did I work on that assignment during those six weeks? Not one bit! I hadn't even chosen the topic that I would write on, so really, I wasn't even thinking about it.
True to my own inimitable pattern, however, I did finish and submit the assignment on time. Thursday night, September 18, I put aside all other projects that had arisen since and devoted myself to the assignment. When I finished, the essay had many marks of a desperate writer: introduction was a bit top-heavy, body paragraphs were a wee bit thin, and I was ready for the conclusion by the top of page 3.
So I asked myself today, "Why do I do this to myself?" If it were just once, I might put it down to some quirk of personality or schedule, but it is an oft-repeated pattern. I tell myself that it's because I do my best work under pressure, backed right up against a firm deadline.
The other possibility, looming large in my thoughts right now, is that, for as hard as I seem to be working all the time, I'm actually quite a lazy person. It's part of the human condition. (There! That makes me feel better!)
This brings me to my point: I have never considered procrastination to be a sin, but it is. That's the truth. We always tell those with whom we share the gospel not to put off surrendering their lives to Christ. If they hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them, don't put off being obedient; don't procrastinate.
This counsel is useful even after we have obeyed that first time. I myself need to heed this sound advice.
2 comments:
I agree it is so hard to do... I mean doing your chores or task at the proper time. Sometimes I try to do everything on time, and it feels so nice and helps me to reduce and amount of stress that I add unnecessary to my daily life, when I'm acting in a procrastinating way... No dejes para manana lo que puedas hacer hoy!!... (something hard to do)
(Ecclesiastes 3,1)
Ellen Degeneres said, "This moment is the only one we are guaranteed, that's why procrastination is so popular"
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