This is the game we play,
Day in and day out.
How we prioritize.
This is best served when we have installed the methods we feel are optimum,
To allow for the subconscious to take the wheel and begin driving.
Either way you look at it,
We set ourselves to a task or a labor.
The assignment must get done.
When we feel resistance,
That is a fear.
We may think it's the anticipation of a little or a lot of difficult or challenging work,
And that is only a fraction of the story,
As we think it is the majority,
When in fact it is all about the comfort zone.
Fear is a reaction to something that feels dangerous.
This is the first response that cuts straight to our nervous system,
Gives the master command,
And we just go along with it to avoid the anxiety,
Which can turn into dread,
Or even spiral into anticipating the worst.
Stories that never existed until you just created them,
So we will substitute 50 other things in lieu of that task or labor,
Painting all types of justifications to avoid doing it.
The universe will sort it out for me.
I don't feel in alignment.
It's not a good time astrologically.
Mercury is in retrograde.
I can get these smaller things done first,
Get them out of the way.
This other thing is going to require a lot of time.
Excuses are full of self-coddling.
That's better for a rainy day.
I'm not feeling up for it.
I don't have all of the materials.
I'm waiting for my partner to join me.
I left my laptop at home.
It's not due for a while anyway.
If these at all sound familiar,
Or in the general ballpark,
We've been there.
A little sense of urgency can be effective and utilized with love.
Activate and cultivate your muscles of making decisions on the spot.
To become more confident in this ability and not freeze up or pass the buck to an imaginary much less resolute version of yourself.
This is what happens when you put things off.
Your less resolute version is now taking a stab at it.
This is not to say some things require a very dedicated,
Fixed,
And focused time to attack,
And facilitate,
And carry out.
However,
Those should be the exception,
Not the rule.
The state of now is the freshest.
Of course,
We can also go the opposite way and do a lot of little things now to avoid the bigger things pending.
It's being able to recognize all of the little tricks the mind plays.
How it doesn't want to go to school.
It will give you all of the reasons in the world why it couldn't do its homework.
Think about it for a moment.
You have used this mind yourself when having to get out of things.
Meetings,
Meetups,
Plans,
Requests,
Favors,
Commitments,
Interactions.
Well guess what?
Now that same mind is working against you.
That machine you might have fed,
Enabled,
Or gone along with through all of these years is now doing a number on you.
It's the trained dog that is now training you.
Who's running the show now?
We say it's complex,
But it's not complex.
It's just messy and needs to be stripped down to the bare essentials.
There are too many items stuffed in that drawer.
Just keep what you need and figure it out now.
This means I have the capacity and agency and autonomy to take leadership of myself.
Just myself.
No one else.
I may need to establish a boundary and put those needs first,
But ultimately I am leading myself and not passing it over to the future version of me.
This is the now version of me.
The one I trust.
The one fit for the job.
The one responsible.
If I choose to lead others,
I need to lead myself and cannot shirk the task to the weaker version of me.
That has to get saddled with all of the priorities the stronger version of me should be handling.
Don't I want to be stronger?
Isn't it in my best interest?
Won't I get better at doing difficult things?
The challenges don't get easier.
I just become more efficient in carrying them out because I get sharper and more resolute.
Like doing my taxes,
Calling people I know I will have difficult conversations with,
Having to face their criticism and feelings about me,
Looking for that new job in the unknown world which might feel frightening,
Getting up early to become fitter,
Writing that book,
Cleaning and organizing that bedroom and bathroom,
Filing that bankruptcy.
This is the beauty of a flat tire.
You've got to fix it or else you're not going anywhere.
It is a great teacher of meditating on the fact nothing else comes first.
Before that mundane task of fixing that piece of pierced rubber on the side of the road or dead car battery.
But it feels great once it's done.
This is true with all of life.
The most grueling tasks have the highest gratification of completion.
Because deep down we feel accomplished.
We love to know we are capable souls.
Engineering,
Intrepid,
Efficient,
Putting things off,
Will also allow for more of the unknown repercussions of chance to impose itself on that future date and interfere with it just before or during that time.
With more new things that might get added on to the list because of the same pattern.
Get it done or don't do it at all.
But do it now.
Where will you move to?
Which color will you paint your house?
Decision fatigue will be a lot less painful when you can make them more immediately.
Not faster but immediate.
You know deep down what you want to do.
Especially when someone asks if you will be able to do something for them.
No more let's check in next week.
Just make the decision right there.
Next week will come up before you know it and you will have 50 other things in between pressing for your attention.
It is empowering to choose now.
It is seizing the present in its ripest most alive fashion before it gets stale and seven days old.
It is mature.
It is saying I am ready.
Ready to grow.
I will feed myself these challenges and grow.
Figure it out now.
