Procrastination

Procrastination is a type of behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. The word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). Source of information Wikipedia.org

This word was on my mind the entire week following my triumphal replacement of the clutch cable. The same day, I received an sms informing me of my cousins death.

Alan Gerard Danker, aged 51 (RIP) passed away on Saturday 30th Aug 2008. He never saw the 51st Anniversary of our countries Independence. Incidentally, he was born in 1957, the year independence was first obtained. I visited him in the hospital on Friay night. He was in a comatose state. His death made me realize a few things:-

1. How short life is and we might as well finish what we have to do before we go off for our next assignment.

2. How is it that we often take things such as our health, relationships, friendships for granted. An old saying comes to mind. I dont recall the exact words but it goes something like this "We never appreciate the things we have, until we lose it".

A very grim and depressing reminder.

Very often, we tend to put things off to the very last minute. Common excuses such as traffic jams, busy work schedules, fatigue, lack of funds etc comes to mind. This led me to remember what someone told me a long time ago "What if you only have one day left to live, what will you do?"

What causes this phenomenon called procrastination? Is it the fear that we cannot accomplish what we set out to do? Or is it just not important enough?

Another thing I realize is that there will never ever be enough of time, enough of money, enough of energy to get things done but we have to do what we have to do while we can still do it. The phycological fear of not accomplishing our tasks is nothing compared to the regret of not doing it while we can. I wish I knew Alan better. What I could have learnt from him. Would it have made me a better person? I guess I'll never know..not in this world anyway.

I have decided (this is the easy part) not to put things off anymore. Making lists and seeing it through is not so difficult anymore once we realize the consequences of putting things off. The list has been made and the ensuing action is in the way. Next stop - the leaky valve cover.

From personal experience - Don't wait till the last minute to tell the person you love that you love them. There are times when they need to hear it. People never get enough of it and its always a nice feeling to know that someone cares for you.