PROCRASTINATION

Hugh Singleton, a fellow member of the American Amateur Press Association, writes regularly in an e-journal he calls “THINGS IN MOTION”. The following is printed with his permission – I think it fits in with my series of "Ruminations", “chew on it” for a while, OK? “Thanks, Hugh!” THE WORDWRIGHT.

NO ONE is likely to be more aware of the tendency to put off doing anything that has no urgency than I am—it has been one of my most persistent dragons of discontent. Who is at fault? Who causes the needless delays in doing things long and sincerely planned? The acknowledged culprit is me, and no amount of self-condemnation has served to diminish by one iota the guilt that fills the baggage I carry on my back. What a shameful stain on the fabric of one’s character!

Those quick moments of regret that whiz by us in our younger lives acquire longer stretches of our attention as we creep into our senior days—the feelings of remorse seem to press heavier on our conscience and we are now and then moved to action, but so long as we feel no serious threat of death, we continue to shove a lot of worthwhile endeavors into the bin marked “later.” Most of us need to step back and take a hard look at “later” and exactly what it means to us.

When is it all right to put aside telling a friend that he or she has added greatly to our lives? Is there a time when we shouldn’t worry about the favor we promised to do for someone but never got around to doing it? And how about those things we promised ourselves: doing a painting or writing a poem; reading certain books and watching certain movies? From my own years I know that in time, all those things we planned to do later will become lost in the dusty corners of our memory and instead of satisfaction, we fill our last years with unnecessary regret and
thoughts of what might have been.

Written by Hugh Singleton, a good friend of mine in Florida.
THE WORDWRIGHT