On procrastination
By Cara Chang Mutert
We all do it. Even when we look like we’re busy. And oftentimes, it’s what’s keeping us from achieving what we desire most.
Whether it’s working too much, checking your inbox, taking care of others, cleaning the house, running to the store, doing the dishes or another load of laundry, our to do list can become our secret way of avoiding the things that we’re putting off. While admittedly, all of these things must get done and there’s only so much time in a day, sometimes our daily realities of existence become our subtle excuse for not doing the things that don’t come as easily to us.
As the new year marks a time of new intention, most of us have already created new resolutions for ourselves. But if previous years often reveal, as the weeks, and if we’re better than most, sometimes months later, we oftentimes find ourselves feeling disappointed, discouraged, frustrated and doubtful about why we even bothered trying in the first place.
The routine busyness of our lives, compounded by the time-sucking abyss created by our phones, tablets, laptops, Netflix and the like, has created a slew of unconscious obstacles keeping us from achieving our deepest desires, and has made our goals feel seemingly even more insurmountable.
Although the minutia may shift from one year to the next, I’d guess the theme remains the same among all of us. It is our life itself that we’re all hoping to enhance each year. We all want to grow, become a better version of ourselves and improve our quality of life.
So what’s stopping us? Why is it so hard to just stick with it if we want it so bad? Is it busyness? No time? No energy? Or maybe a lack of commitment, discipline, or self-confidence? For most of us, it’s probably some unique combination of all of it. How do we jump off of that endless spinning wheel?
Maybe by stepping back and honestly assessing first what is pulling us away from what we wish for in our lives can be our first step. Take a little time out to really quiet down. Recognize what’s holding you back. Build up what’s lacking and let go of what’s accumulating with no purpose. In yoga, we’ve learned that this is actually all possible in our practice on the mat. So in theory, we too can translate those lessons into our life.
As usual, I don’t have the answers, as we are all a work in progress. But maybe if we can unplug from our devices and our own conditioning long enough to tune into ourselves, we can learn from the patterns in our life and our practice on the mat. If we can merge these life lessons together, maybe we can reach a place of freedom from our own unrealized expectations of ourselves, live our life with vigor and purpose, and finally live our fullest, best life one moment at a time.