Silencing Those Who Nag

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied."  ... Proverbs 13:4

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."    ~William James

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Well. Tom flew away for his business trip on Friday and I needed a plan, something to keep me busy.

Aha! I snatched my reading table's small yellow notepad and wrote a list beneath this title--

Things I Have Procrastinated

--then listed tasks I'd put off anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years (good grief). 

The items came hot and fast--you know why, right? Because the things I procrastinate nag me constantly. I've got them all memorized--


The light bulbs over our bathroom sink. I look up, again and again, and think, "Man! Those are caked with dust, right?"

I sit, watching tv, and frown at both the open seam in a couch pillow and the cobwebs, above, looking like lace where the walls meet the ceiling.

I step down into the basement and grumble, "Gee, it's darker than ever down here. Haven't I replaced those two light bulbs yet?"

The vacuum kinda chokes along and I know darn well it's because the canister is full.

Daily I wipe down the two dresser tops in our kitchen and think, "Man, I need to repaint these things."

Then there's the once-a-month sink drain degreaser I've not even used this year. The overflowing ironing basket. The tiny bit of wallpaper the bathroom still needs.

Yada, yada, yada. Perhaps you know how it is.


So. Because Grace is here to help me with these (she always is, I'm thinking. It's just that I'm not always open to receiving her help.), I'm tackling at least three Procrastinated Things daily while Tom's away.

And oh, already my head feels lighter. Rather than the heavy, nagging thoughts when I step into the bathroom with dusty lights, now it's, "Whew! Don't they look bright and clean up there?"

And venturing into the basement isn't nearly as creepy, the couch pillow doesn't need to sit a certain way to hide its flaw and the vacuum's actually picking up stuff. 

So today I say--just do it. Just do that thing you're procrastinating so you can finally feel free again. So you can live un-nagged and move on to a brighter way of being.

Just--

Complete that task you began ages ago (or decide, instead, if it's better to release it because it wasn't meant to be).

Forgive your own passivity. (Don't get stuck, unable to grow, in guilt.) 

Forgive, also, that person who wronged you. God longs to forgive us so we can walk with Him in joy again.

Ask God to make old things, new. Even if our life appears same ol' to others--it can feel like fresh, undiscovered land on the inside.

Just do it or just begin it, anyway. Today. Life over on the Went Ahead and Did It Side feels ever so much lighter. Like joy. 

Trust me.

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So inspiring! This 90-year-old woman knits small blankets for cats in shelters. It always refreshes me to read about people who used their decades helping rather than only whining, "But I have no idea what God created me to do" (believing that will clear them of the responsibility. Yikes!).

We were, each of us, created to help in specially-designed ways upon this planet. We'll be held responsible for doing those things.

May we each carry them out as best we can.



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Must give another shout out to this kindle book--

This year it's helped me, in a fun way, with tasks I'd have otherwise ignored. With my personality type, I enjoy highlighting the tasks I complete, then looking at all that yellow.  😊

I jump around, actually, completing the tasks on different days than those suggested, but then, I'm rebellious that way. heh.


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