A Procrastinator’s Guide From A to Z

“There is no point in using the word ‘impossible’ to describe something that has clearly happened.”
― Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

D is for Denial.

Procrastinators have a unique way of NOT seeing the world around them.  They ignore facts.  They ignore the constraints of time.  They ignore the calendar.  After all, there’s always tomorrow…  Procrastinators don’t live in today.  They live in someday. When this, that, and the other thing all fall into alignment, then they will change their ways and all will be different.

If you were to hold a mirror in front of a procrastinator, they still would be unable to see themselves the way others do.  They can’t see their self-destructive behavior.  Other people do things that are far worse—and infuriating.  By comparison, our own actions aren’t near as bad.

Procrastinators tend to sleepwalk through their lives, their jobs, their dreams.  They may be miserable…and not even know it!  “I love my job.”  Do you?  Is this true?  Are you happy in your career, or are you just very competent at it?  There’s a difference between competence and joy.  There’s a difference between doing the work you are obliged to do with superior efficiency and completing the tasks that will nourish your soul.

Recently, I have begun to see that while I am competent and proficient in a variety of tasks, very few of these endeavors make me happy.  Will this epiphany change things?   Will it change me?  I honestly don’t know.  I hope it will.  This is a lesson I’m struggling with. Washing dishes won’t make me happy, but there is joy in an empty sink, and it’s a task that must be completed.  A paycheck will buy the things that help bring about happiness, but is this always enough?  Perhaps not.

“Survival is insufficient.”
― Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven

There must be more to life than the mediocre business of day to day living.  Happiness is not guaranteed, but there are things that bring me closer to it.  When I’m reading, or writing, or painting, or listening to music…I can feel my soul being nourished.  When I’m surrounded by the people I love, my family and friends, I am surrounded by joy.  It’s not enough to merely survive the daily drudgery of living.  I may NOT be competent in tasks that bring nourishment, but the journey is important as well, perhaps more so than the ability to hold a tangible product in my hands.  To perpetually live in denial, is not living at all.  And…do look forward to living, not merely surviving.

xo Juli