Procrastination  

Who me? Procrastinate?! 
I wish I could say, “No way! Never!”  But it seems like the older I get the more I procrastinate.  That doesn’t make sense really.  When you are young you have lots of time ahead to figure things out and get moving on with your decisions.  I should be realizing that my glass is no longer half empty! 

So often when a thought comes to my mind to contact someone or do something, I tend to put it off for a better time.  I begin to weigh it out in my mind.  Is this a good time to call someone or are they probably busy or eating lunch? Is this Holy Spirit prompting me to do something or just my mind wandering? I come up with all sorts of things rather than just stop what I am doing and connect with someone or get the task done.  Part of it is that I get focused on a project and don’t like to be interrupted until I am finished.  Can anyone relate?

Procrastinate = to put off to a future time; to delay or postpone. It is often not linked to laziness but rather other feelings, emotions, priorities or poor time management.  There you have it all summed up.

Why do I save special things for a future time?  I save beautiful dishes to use on a special occasion.  Yesterday, I was looking at some special silver goblets that are engraved with the family initials that we had for our wedding reception.  We used them on only a few anniversaries over the years.  We should have used them more and enjoyed them regularly. 

I realize in talking with people as they near the end of life that it is not all the really special occasions and big vacations they think about missing the most but the ordinary everyday activities. They think more about evenings home with the family, connecting with friends, taking a walk outside and enjoying nature, seeing a beautiful sunrise or sunset.

Priorities shift with age and time frame. Simple everyday activities that we tend to overlook or put off for a more convenient time take on more significance.  The moments we avoid or rush through today may be the moments we would give anything to have back tomorrow. 

Psalm 90:12 instructs us, “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”

I don’t want to leave a lot of things undone or unsaid that are important to me but tend to get squeezed to the back of my every day activities. 
How about you?