Of Running From "I Can't Help It"

I know that men are notoriously big on always wanting to fix things and how that makes their wives crazy sometimes because women want to be listened to, believing that's what they need the most. Often, anyway.

Well, I'm not a man but I'm big on fixing things, too. And I'm huge on not just settling for the hard times and problems and quandaries of our lives. Life is way too short to sit around in recliners, watching tv while our problems are overwhelming us.

Though, ok, even I occasionally do that. (Let's be honest here.)

But still, I always do eventually pull myself out of the aforementioned recliner and fix at least one of the things which is bothering me. As much as I can fix it, anyway.

If I've felt sick, achy or cranky I'll usually go to the computer to find out why, checking with the health sites I trust. And I'll ask myself if I've been fooling around with my health, taking it for granted (usually the answer is a resounding, "Yes!"). Then I make changes--crawl back up on the Healthy Horse and ride to the good places of eating better, getting outside, exercising and thinking about what's all going right.

If something is broken around the house, I'll try to repair it. Or ask Tom. If something screams, "Paint me!", I'll paint at least a little bit of it--or--I'll stop nagging myself about the need to paint it. If an area is cluttered, I'll declutter it, even if it's just a teensy portion of a mega-mess.

Pro-activity beats inactivity any day.

If I'm worried, I tell myself to knock it off, that God has taught me better and that worry will eventually make me sick. I make myself think about something else. I'll listen to messages from my favorite teacher about the evils of worry.

If I owe emails, I'll write at least one or two.

You know. And the list goes on.

The main thing? I try to stay miles away from the trap of 'I Can't Help It.' 'I-Can't-Help-It-People' don't grow-up. Or they do mega-slowly, remaining babies, toddlers for, like, seventy years. They feel bad just about, well, always. They give-up when they must step beyond Easy. They hate change and progress and doing things a new way. They've settled in their heads and upon their couches and those types of settlers have boring lives.

I hate boring.

So for today? Just do it. Just fix it. Look at it a different way or let go of what should have been released long ago (relationships included). Break down the mental fences you've built around your problems and just tackle one tiny thing. When God gives us something to do, always He provides the way to do it. Otherwise He'd be unfair.

What remains is for us to discover that way. His way.



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Procrastination kills in a myriad of ways, some invisible, others quite evident.