Procrastination is the Art of Keeping Up with Yesterday

 Procrastination. Probably one of the most common words by young people. I don’t know what it is but everyone tends to procrastinate. Whether it’s doing our homework one period before its due or staying up until 4 in morning finishing that essay that should’ve been done days ago, we all do it at one point or another. It for sure is not a good thing though.  No matter how hard I try sometimes I just can’t help but procrastinate, it’s something that just happens sometimes and in the end it is a learning process for myself. I like to be positive and the quote “procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday” by Don Marquis just keeps a positive vibe. I am not encouraging procrastination by any means just putting a little less negativity into it. It is always good to review past lessons anyways.

Calculus for example, second semester mostly consisted of applying past concepts to different situations. We have to review old topics in order to understand the current ones. It’s a little difficult however because this could be considered as just review and not procrastination. But anyways procrastination is a part of learning. We learn how to manage our time more wisely. With mistakes come lessons learned.

  We All Love Being Happy

Happiness is something everyone craves in life. It is what makes life worth living for. People go through unnecessary things to try to be happy. Stacey Charter once said, “Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself- no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are- completely; the good and the bad- and make changes as YOU see fit- not because you think someone else wants you to be different.” This tends to happen a lot when it comes to relationships. Many people think that if they have someone there to make them feel good about themselves it will make them happy. This is a recipe for disaster.  At our young age, we tend to make our decisions based upon what other will think of us. But really, no one notices the details because they’re too worried about their own problems. Many people say they “are they are their own biggest enemy” and that is true on many levels. We always criticize ourselves for things that don’t even matter. Being satisfied with yourself and not caring about others opinions is the key to making yourself happy. Not relying on another person to make you happy. No one is perfect, so people need to stop putting their standards so sky high.          

                For me, when it comes to cooking I am never satisfied with anything. I tend to forget parts of ingredients and food doesn’t come out right. I don’t like cooking for people because I feel they won’t like my food. I feel them judging me at all times, even though that is not the case. I want to satisfy them and that makes me happy. But when I rely on their satisfaction to make me happy I stress myself out and then it leads me to forget about turning on the oven to bake the cake. Point is I am not happy with my cooking.  All bad.

                When we can’t love and respect ourselves, we can’t expect others to do that for us. It comes from the inside of us and then projects out gradually. Like when girls put themselves out there, no one respects them because they can respect themselves. Respect is the first thing that comes from people when they see you are happy and love yourself flaws and all. No one is perfect so being the best we can be, in whatever way that is, wins out in the long run. People can’t change because they want others to like them; they need to change for the better of themselves to make themselves happy. It’s hard pleasing everyone, and the only people worth gaining respect from are the people who are closets to us and are there for us no matter what. Happiness and love can come from them but we need to spark that truth into ourselves.  Once we believe in that, happiness and our self worth will come by itself.

 

Don’t be Greedy

Since we were young, our elders have always taught is that “sharing is caring” or not to be selfish. Even a long time ago, Jesus said “Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not what gives you life” found in Luke 12:15. This quote means a lot to me because I can relate to every bit of it. We are in an age full of new technologies. We don’t have to wash dishes the dish washer can do that for us, at the touch of a button we can get a bird’s eye view of where we are going using a gps, and at a little lever can magically disappear our bathroom duties. Not to say that these are not good things because let’s face it no one wants to go hunt their food down in a forest and kill it and cook it over a fireplace. Such a painful process and these aren’t the Hunger Games. Technology makes our lives amazingly easier. We have so many possessions now it’s crazy thinking about it, compared to other people back then with their only clothes on their backs and us now with drawers and closets filled with tons of clothing. However it is important to realize that having and wanting things isn’t going to make us better people.

If we are greedy and crave more and more from this world of consumerism we get stuck in a cycle that can tear us apart. In addition to spending unwisely and getting trapped in debt, people forget that materials don’t last and that isn’t going to give them any dignity in the end. People say that “your actions define you” and if you are greedy and don’t care about others it, when you are in need no one will be there to help you because before you were too busy being selfish to help anyone who need someone at their side.

Also the quote mentions “avoid every kind of greed” so it doesn’t have to be material things such as people being greedy for attention or greedy for food or greedy for naughty things. These things don’t give us life. I believe God gives us life and He will bless us for our good doings one way or another. And we can’t let selfishness get in the way of helping others being better people. It might be hard to resist those new Nike shoes or whatever, but thinking about our future, those things won’t help us become better people.

Open Doors

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell once said this famous quote, which I believe is very true because it happens to me and as well as people all around me. We tend to get caught up in our past that we lose sight of what all the good things that are in the present. Some people are afraid of change and the look back thinking “what if”. It is important to keep a positive attitude and be open to new open doors because good things will come sooner or later.

 I like what Alexander said it helps me keep in mind that everything that was lost is only for something better. When I was younger I moved schools many times and every time I dreaded it. I was afraid of coming to a new school where I did not know anyone, everyone had their own friends already and I felt like an intruder. However even though I moved a lot and it was hard for me, I always managed to find friends that I grew to care so much about but that wasn’t always how I looked at it. I focused on my old school time and time again that sometimes I feel I missed out on opportunities that passed right by me in my new school like participating in activities that would have benefited me in the future. Getting caught up in my past did me no good, but now I try and take advantage of every opportunity because I always learn new things and I get experiences that will do me good in the long run.

Time doesn’t go back so it if we look in the present and make the best of what we have we will not have regrets later. Closed doors only mean another opened one we just have to look for the entrance. We only live once so walking through that open door is all we have to lose. It is okay to think of “what ifs” we need to be careful not to dwell on the fact because that will not change the future.  Just like getting up every morning is a new day so are new open doors, like the shift from one day to another. So having that perspective in mind can help us through thick and thin with always having another open door ahead of us for greater and life changing experiences.