Procrastination

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner, Daily Blogs

Minor Delays

Putting things off doesn’t  make them easier…

For instance, take this post:

I had wonderful intentions to get it up sooner, but then decided to wait. 

Bad idea. 

My evening took an unplanned turn and here I am at a quarter to midnight writing about procrastination. 

I’ve read that it’s good to have 5-10 posts ready in your queue. This is sounds like heaven to me because, much like heaven, I have yet to arrive. 

My favorite Christian song right now is “One post at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from you!”

Daily blogging is fun. 

Is it challenging?

Absolutely. 

Are there days you talk about a lack of planning?

Yes. 
  

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner, Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys, Uncategorized

Be a thought catcher

I surround myself with paper:

  • I carry a planner because using my phone’s calendar has never stuck with me.
  • My desk is covered in sticky notes and scrap pages and memo pads with scribbled out notes to myself.
  • I even use Evernote, which is a digital notebook.

If I don’t grab catch a thought immediately, it’s a goner.

Do you know how many times I’ve written a great blog post in my head and planned on writing it down once I got home?

Whether you’re the most organized thought catcher that ever lived or you have 10 notebooks and scrap paper falls around your feet when you walk, just write things down!

Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets…”

The Lord was giving instructions and the first words out of his mouth were, “Write this down!”

The point of writing things down is to use that information to teach and encourage others.

None of us lack ideas.

If you’ve ever sat in a meeting, you know that everyone has great ideas–and they normally all come about the time the meeting is supposed to be over.

We just don’t catch the inspiration when the Holy Spirit gives it to us.

Grab your thoughts!

Write them down!

And then go do something with them.

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner, Daily Blogs

Fumes and a prayer

Prayers start going up fast when I’m sitting on empty, which happens about once a week because I still haven’t learned my lesson. 

Waiting until the last possible second to buy gas is not a good idea. 

  • No matter how cheap gas is on the other side of town. 
  • No matter if you have to make a U-turn to get into the station. 
  • No matter how cold or hot it is outside. 

Stop and buy the gas!

Russian roulette is a bad game to play late at night on the freeway. 

Driving on fumes and a prayer can only get you so far. 

I made it home safely tonight, but my procrastination almost landed me in the dog house. 

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner, Daily Blogs, Family

No longer a victim

Sometimes I miss the walls around my heart.

This statement might shock you, but it’s true.

Many years ago, I watched a documentary about Patty Hearst. She was kidnapped at age 19 and a few months later was helping her captors commit crimes.

Seems kind of crazy, right?

Instead of being freed from her captors and returned home, she was thrown in jail. The case led to a long discussion about Stockholm Syndrome, which is when a victim begins to have positive feelings toward his or her captors.

The consensus was that Patty Hearst deserved her punishment, but President Jimmy Carter eventually pardoned her.

This brings me back to the walls around my heart. It’s easier for me to disengage than to risk pain. My dad and stepmom call me out on it all the time.

“Audra, you know what to do. You always have a choice.”

The gap between knowledge and action trips us up all the time.

  • You’re a diabetic who refuses to cut back on dessert.
  • You’re a procrastinator who refuses to turn off the TV or computer.
  • You’re an alcoholic who refuses to leave the party lifestyle.

It’s easier to give in than it is to put up a fight.

The hardest part in my own journey is knowing that personal responsibility still knocks at my door.

IMG_1563If I hide behind walls, I am choosing to hurt someone else.

Even if I didn’t mean to.

Even if I did.

I can’t blame psychology either. Stockholm Syndrome is real, no doubt, but it can’t negate the power of choice.

You and I are not victims anymore.

Those tired, old excuses for poor behavior won’t get us far.

1 Comment Posted on Business Sense

I’m Tired of Singing the Blues

Here in the last couple of weeks I have reclaimed my time. That’s right. Every night I write out my to-do list and that has drastically changed my day.

Why?

I am taking the time to plan out my day. Seriously, that’s it. There’s no ten step program or book that I am reading on efficiency. I am simply writing down what I have to do and then doing it.

This is a revolutionary concept.

NOT!

What’s revolutionary is that I am taking responsibility for myself.

Can you picture a world where everyone takes responsibility for themselves? Would you even be able to recognize this generation?

It’s time to grow up!

Gee, I wonder why my house is so messy…oh look! Another episode of Friends is coming on for the fiftieth time! I’ll mop the floor after it goes off.

How stupid.

I’ve accomplished so much more by turning off the TV and getting off my butt. In fact, I can barely stand to watch TV anymore.

What’s there to watch? The news? That’s depressing. Reality TV? It’s all rigged anyway. Cop shows? You see one episode, you’ve figured out the plot of every show.

I want to really live my life. Not just watch other people on TV and wish I was them. That’s kind of lame, okay? I’m sick of feeling lame and silly and wondering why life is passing me by.

Jesus laid down his life for me, so I could sit on my butt and do nothing?

What’s wrong with this picture?

EVERYTHING!  

Now, do not start believing I am Miss Wonderful. I’m just waking up, okay?

I struggle every day.

I make mistakes, I feel guilty, and I lament over missed opportunities.

However, I don’t want to be singing the blues for the rest of my life either.

I’m rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and moving on. Will you do the same?