Procrastination

This weekend, our church cancelled all the weekend services. Instead, we were encouraged to go out and do some good for the

community. Our life group decided to pick-up trash around the neighbourhood.
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Whilst we were picking up trash, we came across an abandoned building with overgrown hedges. It reminded me of Proverbs 24: 30-34.

....

I went past the field of the

sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man."

...

The scripture warns against giving in to the temptation of laziness, of sleeping instead of working. This does not mean that we should not rest; God was behind the Sabbath, a weekly day of rest and relaxation. But we should not rest when we should be working. And spring is the season for breaking ground.

Spring is where the action is. To the successful person, spring is the time for definitive action - for saying, "if a harvest is to be, it's up to me!" Spring is the time for gathering the best seeds, preparing the soil, and planting ideas, energy, and enthusiasm inot a new crop of success."

But to the unsuccessful people, spring is a time for daydreams... In his book, Waitley identified three types of procrastinators - people who never seem to switch on the gadget to get started:

• Victims are preoccupied with the past and about things they cannot control. Victims fix the blame of failure in their lives on others. They see themselves being controlled by external circumstances rather than having control over their destiny. They are experts in excuses. Victims don't plant because they don't believe that the seeds they put into the soil have a potential for growth. And if they do grow, they'll be wiped out by weather, pestilence, or infestation... Victims are certain that the plants won't yield enough to pay the growing costs. Therefore, they conclude, it's better not to plant. Nothing risked, nothing lost. Alas, for Victims, nothing is usually the only thing gained!
• Failure Avoiders rarely seek out a new field to plant. They are happy with the present. They like to keep things going smoothly, to focus their energy on making sure that things stay safe and predictable. Since seed planting requires new risk, they avoid the possibility at all costs. They are happly to make it through the week. Failure Avoiders survive, but they very rarely soar.
• Field-of-Dreamers imagine that the field is already planted. They figure if they build it, success will come. In their mind's eye, they've planted - when in reality, they haven't. In their mind's eye, crops are growing - when in reality, there are no seeds in the ground. In their mind's eye, they see themselves as successful planters - when in reality, they have yet to get behind a plow. Field-of-Dreamers may think of a market-shattering concept or an engineering breakthrough in the shower, but somehow they never get out of the shower to do anything about it.

Tomorrow's leaders not only have dreams, goals, and plans. They are willing to work hard and to take responsibility for turning their plans into energy, perspiration, and effort. They don't sit back and wait for someone else to turn their plant into action. They take charge of executing their own plan.

"A sluggard does not plough in season; so at harvest time he looks but found nothing" - Proverbs 20:4

Are you a procrastinator? Ask yourself, what keeps me from planting? Put some constructive TNT (Today not Tomorrow!) to work for you today.

Sources:
LAB & Denis Waitley (1990) Timing is Everything.