Starting projects is easy.
Plan, marshal resources, then put everything into action.
Something new, yet familiar. Starting fresh always holds a special excitement for me.
So what gives with this tendency towards stagnation that we see so often? You know. The situations where inertia sets in and things fail to move forward.
I am not sure if it is a mental health byproduct of pandemic policies, but I do find it annoying.
Procrastination May Happen… Eventually
I get it.
Not everyone is a go getter type of personality. Some folks are happy to be passengers. It has been feeling like that at some point we garnered more passengers than the workers could support comfortably.
The caregiver in me is always the first to pick up a tool and address whatever the crisis is that just entered the door. Time enough to think out details and worry about outcomes later. First address the problem at hand.
This courage in the face of adversity is learned. Hearkening back to my High School days, and like so many, I majored in procrastination.
Big test on Friday? Start studying Thursday night, like any normal teenager.
But we mature with time (hopefully), and the responsibility our parents and teachers tried to imbue us with, finally starts to take hold.
After the crisis training that comes with caregiving, you only vaguely resemble the person you were years before.
Personally, I like the change but I have not seen it as reversible.
In a favorite scene from “Field of Dreams”, “Doc” Graham leaves the reverie of playing baseball with his heroes to help a choking child, only to discover that he cannot return to the play.
Growing up feels that way to me.
Going Back?
As famously expressed by Thomas C. Wolfe, “You can’t go back home.”
I think it is natural to be nostalgic but we have things to do today.
It just feels weird to see people trying to go back to places that no longer exist. Temper tantrums on social media, aggressive driving behind the wheel, denying responsibilities for the vulnerable in our lives – where DID the grown ups go?
From where I sit, I see these regressions as only anxiety generators. The harder one tries to make the past happen again, frustration only increases and the situation becomes even more difficult.
The Fix
Part of my learning to solve big problems is to start.
If what I am doing has proven to not work, stop doing it. Pull up your pants, dry your eyes, and think.
Develop that outstandingly creative, and often glaringly obvious, idea and implement it.
Yes, we don’t know if it will work. Yes, it is scary (get used to working through fear), and no, we cannot stop to feel better about our decision.
Taking responsibility for change is what we do.
You won’t know until you take a swing at it.
“Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.”― Shannon L. Alder
Dad's Back 