Dear friends,
Have you ever been in a position where you were faced with an important task,
But you were overcome by the inclination to put it off?
And what about a time when you felt you should consult a doctor or a dentist,
But decided to wait and see?
Maybe you felt the need to change jobs,
But you were overwhelmed by the thought of making a move.
You might have postponed what could have turned out to be a life-changing invitation to someone.
Another of the if-only times.
Every day we have so many opportunities for not doing.
Welcome to this meditation encouraging you to take just one step.
But let us begin by taking an important first step,
Allowing ourselves just one minute to come to a state of stillness,
A starting point for reflection,
Before jumping in unprepared.
A one-minute pause.
Welcome back.
We are all faced with choices every day.
We have the possibility of taking some necessary action,
Or the possibility of postponing a task that really ought to be done.
Procrastination does not necessarily mean that we are lazy.
We can put off taking action for many reasons.
We might be suffering from burnout.
There might be too many choices.
We can feel overwhelmed by the task that's facing us.
The fear of failure can lead to procrastination,
But remember that the only way we can be sure of not failing is never to try.
And not only can we suffer from fear of failure,
But we can even be troubled by the fear of success and all that might follow from that success.
But one thing is certain,
Our peace of mind will be disturbed again and again for so long as we delay doing something which we know we ought to do.
The temporary comfort we may gain from putting it off till tomorrow may not even last until tomorrow.
The job to be done might even bubble up during the night and disturb our sleep.
Let's take another one-minute pause,
This time to ask ourselves,
Is there something which we know we need to do and which we've been putting on the long finger?
No doubt some overdue tasks came to your mind during that last pause for reflection.
But no worries,
There is hope and you can set things moving even today.
Take one step,
Any one step,
However small,
In the direction of what needs to be done.
This might only involve setting down the task in writing,
Breaking it down into its parts,
Anything at all.
Many years ago I came across a quote which said,
Every impossibility can be divided into a number of steps,
Each of which is possible.
It's an idea which is well worth remembering if ever you are troubled by something which is overdue for attention.
You can remember to fall back on the miracle of just one step,
And you can take that one step now,
Today.
There are tricks which you can perform that will help you to approach troublesome tasks in this way.
Some people advocate the idea of counting down from ten to zero,
And immediately taking some action when the countdown reaches zero.
We can develop the habit of giving ourselves energy by dealing with the most difficult job at the beginning of the day,
And if that seems too onerous,
You can decide that on two or three days in the week,
You would always begin by taking one step in the direction of the most difficult task.
Looking back over our lives,
We can all remember the great feelings which we had when we got down to working on a difficult job.
So let's experience that great feeling again.
What is it that you've been postponing?
That awkward phone call?
That invitation full of possibility?
The long-wished-for holiday?
Maybe the overdue catching up with a friend?
The book you said you'd write?
The course you thought you might do,
Someday?
There are so many jobs that we need to do,
And there are so many possibilities open to us,
All ready to be launched thanks to the miracle of just one step.
The brighter future awaits.
Enjoy.
Namaste.
