This is one of life’s serious conundrums, particularly as it relates to yours truly. Why is it that we want, often even need, to do something, yet we struggle to get off the dime and pull the trigger? This goes way beyond mere procrastination; although, I strongly suspect it is in the same family of predicaments. I suffer from these…
It usually begins when the light bulb above my head suddenly glows brightly… when I’ve hit upon a great idea. This occurs, I believe, in response to subconscious thoughts of dissatisfaction with being cooped up and grounded for some reason.
Anyway, it is then followed by a strong surge of enthusiasm, a sudden burst of energy, and a not always productive flurry of activity… Then, the pendulum swings back in the other direction…
That’s when the reality side of my persona takes control, and all that practical stuff starts to rear its ugly head. Is the oil in ALI OK? What about the tires? How long has it been since we had a part failure like an alternator, or U-joint, or whatever…, and is there something of that sort to worry about? Where will I go? Where will I stay, yadda, yadda, yadda… It’s enough to crash any bright idea!
So, I retreat to the recliner to ponder… and to nap most of the time. Before you know it, the day is too far gone to do anything, so I decide to revisit this whole enterprise the next morning… Sometimes the cycle repeats itself again… and again…
I remind myself that the only way to constructively deal with these sorts of things is to just go… To face whatever pops up and deal with it the way we’ve done so many times in the past… But what if…? I eventually overcome all of that mental clutter and venture forth… and things almost always work out just fine… So, why is this such a common occurrence with me…?
Perhaps it is natural for us humans to be like this… but I wonder… Did the explorers and discoverers of history suffer from such mental roadblocks? Did ol’ Chris Columbus need a good kick in the pants to motivate him to sail across the ocean? Was Marco Polo really such a curious guy… or, was he perhaps just lost… and frightened? Or worse…
Am I just lazy? Am I one of those couch potatoes who never want to budge from in front of the TV and exert any energy in some productive undertaking? Nah, I don’t buy that for a second! I’ve traveled way too far in life to believe something along that line of reasoning… Still…
Is it my more or less conservative nature…? My deep down inner need to be sure enough of what I’m doing in order to reduce risks to a tolerable, manageable level…? Am I actually afraid of the unknown? Do I suffer from some form of anxiety to some degree? In the depths of my subconscious heart of hearts do I really like Hillary and/or The Donald? Egad!!! I may have some issues, but I’m confident that ain’t one of them!
Well, I was thinking, hoping for sure, that running through these thoughts and writing them down would lead me to an answer… Not so. I’m right where I began, with a great idea, followed by sufficient ‘objections’ to allow me to remain seated and inactive, but at the same time to feel disappointed that I’m not loading ALI instead of pounding away on the keys on my laptop right now…
I know what to do about this, though… I may not have all of the answers or even know all of the questions, but I do know through vast experience what I can do to produce a happy outcome… Yep, and I’m gonna do it, too… starting right now!!!