Indecision & Procrastination, the Enemies of Happiness
Procrastination makes the easy things hard, hard things harder
~ Mason Cooley
Indecision is a thief that steals our success, our confidence, our time and by extension our happiness. Many times we procrastinate and I don’t mean when we decide to wait until half-time to take out the garbage. I’m talking about when we put off taking that vacation we need, writing that letter to a friend we’ve been meaning to write, apologizing to someone we’ve hurt or starting back taking that walk each night after dinner. In particular we put off the steps we need to take to do the big things in life, the changes, the new things, those things that stretch us out of our comfort zone. Procrastinating those things that can make our life better and us happier, ends up making things worse and diminishing our happiness. So today, do one of those things, force yourself out to the gym, make that phone call, write that letter, take that walk or throw away the junk food in your house. And now a bit of wisdom on this front by Deng Ming-Dao:
Don’t be afraid to explore;
Without exploration there are no discoveries.
Don’t be afraid of partial solutions;
Without the tentative there is no accomplishment.
Indecision and procrastination are corrosive habits. Those who wait for every little thing to be perfect before they embark on a project or who dislike the compromise of a partial solution are among the least happy. Ideal circumstances are seldom given to anyone for an undertaking. Instead there is uncertainty in every situation. The wise are those who can wrest great advantage from circumstances opaque to everyone else.
Wanting everything in life to be perfect before you take action is like wanting to reach a destination without travel. For those who follow Tao, travel is every bit as important as the destination. One step after another: That is still central to the wisdom of Tao.
Every day passes whether you participate or not. If you are not careful, years will go by and you will only have regrets. If you cannot solve a problem all at once, at least make a stab at it. Reduce your problems into smaller, more manageable packages, and you can make measurable progress toward achievement. If you wait for everything to be perfect according to your preconceived plans, then you may well wait forever. If you go out and work with the current of life, you may find that success comes from building upon small things.
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