Procrastination

   Procrastination, a long word that means nothing gets done. One of my pet peeves as well. I didn't grow up with it but took to it like a fish to water later on. That lasted until UPS came along and I started driving. I learned a lot there and while I wouldn't want my kids to work there, it taught me a lot. That word ceased to be when a driver I was covering for left a note on my steering wheel when he came back from work. I had not delivered a few stops that were hard to get to. The note was plain and simple and enraged me to no end, probably because it was true. It read, "How the hell are you going to find to do what you didn't have time to do right the first time". I walked around like a swelled hen for days until a supervisor called me in the office. He laughed too, just like the rest of the drivers, but said he would talk to Bill. It didn't do any good though, Bill refused to apologize, and rightfully so. So the supervisor suggested I might think as to what bothered me so bad about the note. Deep down inside I knew it was true and I had been raised different than what I had learned to become, a Procrastinator. I was young, strong, and fast with deliveries. Friendly and courteous, but I wasn't complete. I went back to the way I was. That note was without a doubt the best thing that I could have read. It was easy to deliver the quick stuff, even looked good on the over/allowed time with the added miles, but then I had to answer for the extra miles. Worst yet, it took longer to get done and if you haven't experienced a package car with no power steering, straight shift, no a/c, fan, in 90 degree temps. I think we had 1 vent back then. I wasn't the only cover driver that done that, but that didn't make that any better. I relearned to take it as it comes.  

     There is one thing about tomorrow and that it never comes, when it's here it is today. Things come about and sometimes we can't address everything on a rough day, but we can make a start. Something pops up and like shoveling dirt, thrown to the side, it can and will become a mountain. Time can't be the issue because we all have the same amount of time in a day as everybody else and the same amount yesterday as we have today. That means tomorrow will pretty sure have the same amount too. Procrastination can cause a mountain of stress as things build up and suddenly we are behind with more than one can get done on a given day. Not to mention those of us who don't find it annoying as hell. It's hard to feel sorry for someone who puts things off and then works hard to catch up, especially the things that don't wait. If what one does depends on another doing their part then eventually the one that does their parts quits too. Little can be done to motivate the one who quits to restart after several times. 

  I saw this a lot at places I would pick up from. They would set and goof around until the end of the day then go wild trying to catch up, many times asking if we could come back. At home TV and Internet takes up time that could be otherwise used when matters need attending. Nothing wrong with chilling out and watching TV or surfing the web when all that can be done is. There is something terribly wrong though if you know more about the stars than the real people in your life. Something bad wrong when your memories are a TV show, instead of your own. People on TV don't watch a lot of TV, they do. Watching isn't the same as doing. I made some people mad one time when they said, "We Won", in reference to a football game. I simply said, "You play football, I didn't know that. Where are you at, I missed that. " They said, "No, never played football." I smiled and said, "Then they won, not you." I bought some donkeys from a lady who holds a high position on long ears, but no practical knowledge. Lucky for her she pays someone to tend them and lucky for the donkeys I felt sorry and bought the pair. Those that can should do. Those who no longer can but once did teach. Those who think they know usually supervise. Years ago I proof read, not for writing but for accuracy, many poultry and gamebird articles. 

  Old people had a lot of saying when I was a kid, like "Make hay while the sun is shinning." "Loose yer Round-to-it". "Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today". They lived by that and died by that. It simply meant to do what you can in the time you have when something needs to be done.  Don't put something off. There is no day like today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes. Life is here and now and problems and chores are here and now. I guarantee unless you can pay someone to do what needs be done they will be here tomorrow, maybe bigger, plus some.  So don't let mole hills become mountains. Take care of business as it arises. Live, make your own memories, and life will go smoother, I promise. Reduce your stress in life, or the one who doesn't procrastinate. If you have kids aggravate them by showing as well as telling to handle things as they arise. Learn not to put things off if you do, then lead by example. Then again, as the old people said, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Thing is, you lead by example and unless someone you depend on procrastinates, life will be easier. Tell yourself that it will not get done if you don't attend it.