Just Because You Should, Doesn’t Mean You Will
Just because you should, doesn’t mean you will.
Okay so this is the follow up to my previous post Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should.
I find myself in this situation very often. There is a list of things I should do. Many of them are things that would make me a better person, others are just things that I know would be nice to accomplish for what my dad used to say “the good of the order.” There are plenty of excuses as to reasons why I can’t (see my post The Scale of Accountability). There are many reasons that I just put things off. When I was young my dad also used to say that I was definitely a “pro-crastinator” on some things– as opposed to an amateur one I guess.
But besides putting things off or just finding excuses, I find that when I reflect on everything I have done at the end of each day, there are several things that got in the way. I let them I suppose, or I prioritized them way down the list when I shouldn’t. They get relegated to “tomorrow” stuff… or put on the weekend list. That’s just going to happen because there are only so many hours in the day left over after work and sleep and eating.
Something’s may just be simple things to do, but when piled up together they are like a bunch of pieces of a puzzle that look difficult to assemble. Some of those things need more time- more quality time, or more concentration than my brain-cells have to offer. Yet others may be things that are not that desirable to have to do in the first place, and then that too weighs on the decision to do them.
Sure there are chores, house repairs, detailed cleaning, running the errands of the day, paying bills, corresponding with emails and messages from friends and family, and so many other things that seem to “task” the lists. What easily gets pushed farther aside is the focus that I need to keep grounded in what is truly important… and that alone seems to get pushed around on the “to do” list.
At the end of it all- doing what is important to feed yourself spiritually should be at the top of the list. For me that would be spending time in the Word. It may be just meditating on the positive things that I should be sharing with the people around me. It may just be sitting down with my family and enjoying each other’s company, or with my wife and longtime partner in this journey…taking time to really know how her day went or what she is feeling today.
There I go then… things I should do… but don’t get to. Even examining the things that get in the way is an entry on my “to do” list. If you use Excel spreadsheets- I envision it to the error message for a “circular reference” – put on the to-do list to clear the to-do list.
I will get to it soon!
Nope. Maybe right now… how about you?
Tracks In The Dust 