Do it now
If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come. — C.S. Lewis
Do you ever find yourself thinking that you will get a fresh start tomorrow .. or next week? That when things settle down after the holidays, you’ll get down to it? That you just need to get this or that off your plate .. and then you’ll be ready?
Do it today.
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22 comments
Good point. "While conditions are still unfavourable." Yeah, exactly.
One thing I'm really drawn to these days is the satisfaction of finishing a task. I don't like coming to a dirty-from-breakfast kitchen on mornings when I've just headed straight into homeschooling, for instance. There is a part of me that thinks that such a thing is a luxury for when the kids are older or my mother-in-law is around and I feel like keeping to higher standards.
I LOVE this quote (and it seems timely considering my decision today to forever quit Facebook)!
And you KNOW I love the picture! :)
jill, ha! i knew you'd like that picture. ;^)
yay re: quitting facebook forever! LIKE. ;^)
Wow, I needed this quote today. It seems like at one time, I lived my life to this concept... but being knocked down one too many times has made me afraid to even try anything anymore. I've been on the verge of giving up on more than one dream lately, and I'm going to take this as a sign to keep trying. Even if the current conditions are "unfavorable."
Sorry to ramble :) Thank you!
So true. This is why my comic strip started. I was tired of waiting for "the perfect time." And it's good I didn't wait, or I would have lost a lot of good story lines.
So glad you enjoyed my "How we met" story. That was another example of me deciding not to wait. :o)
Peace and Laughter!
The only way to get nothing done is to wait for "the best time"... If you really want to get something done you have to just start - despite the surrounding conditions... Often I put things off for weeks, months even, things I really want to do, because I am going to do ten other things first!!! Needless to say just one step is all it takes... It is part of the learning curve of life and one of those lessons my kids have taught me well... so often they see a project and are inspired to dive in and I will say wait lets get this or do this first... and then it never happens. My kids know to dive in despite me!!! And really when inspired and they leap awesome things result!!!
Gee I just wrote about this this morning, Of course it was a lot less succinct.
Great quote, Lori. I'm going to keep that one handy!
Love, love, love.
You are so right! I had been waiting to take the children canoeing until the weather was just right. The result? Five years passed. It was close to 100 degrees when we went but it was amazing just the same. Now you've talked me into kayaking. :)
jackie, oh good. keep trying. never give up. :^)
cristina, this is what sets doers apart. they do. if everyone waited for perfect conditions, nothing would ever happen! there are so many people out there with unfulfilled dreams and talents who are still waiting anxiously for the right time to start, when there is no right time .. until they start. then it was the right time. :^)
loved reading your story! my husband and i met when i was 18 and we've been together ever since, so we have a similar timeline. :^)
se7en, so true .. and so often adults tell kids "no" when they want to jump into something right away. they tell them wait until this or that .. and then when they decide it's time to move forward, the child has moved on! opportunity lost.
stacey, lol. well you know how infrequently i manage to be succinct! ;^)
thank you, lisa!
thank you, deirdre. ;^)
jennifer, yay! :^) that's so easy to forget .. that when the best things happened, things weren't always perfect .. yet we still had a perfect time! you definitely need to try kayaking -- and let me know what you think! :^)
Opportunity lost - so true!!! Luckily my first born is SO tenacious that he got me out of the "not now, later" rut before I could get totally stuck in the groove!!! For all his siblings I mostly say yes and leave them to it... they have their brilliant successes, even more brilliant because they did it themselves, and they had their disasters - which lets face it are really the best way to figure things out!!!
Oh, my gosh. That is so me. I hate that this is what I have become lately!
Getting up and doing something about it RIGHT NOW!
Thanks for this. Now can you send me an email reminding me of it every day?
I want to quit facebook too,, no no no, will quit spending too much on Facebook I guess for my family are all there :)
This quote is right for me Lori, thanks.
Hi Lori,
Great quote. Can you reveal the source: book title, etc?
Thanks!
Ginger
Like se7ven, my daughter is teaching me to "do it now." She's amazing at it. Like the other day after reading how to throw a fairy tea party she said she thought a ring toss game would be fun and I told her I needed to take a 20 minute snooze first. When I got up she had already made flower rings from pipe cleaners. She ran out of tape but she didn't let that deter her and ended up using tape from one of her broken doll dishes that she had used tape to mend. She's also made the invitations and she's currently working on fairy decorations. The party is in November. I'm in awe of her. And me? I keep telling myself that "things worth doing are worth doing badly." G.K Chesterson. Could it be the way we were educated that keeps us from jumping on inspiration? What are we waiting for?
se7en, agree completely re: the disasters! that impulse to get things just right before we start can eliminate both the spontaneous playfulness AND the casual mistakes that lead to authentic learning!
theresa, excellent! :^)
barbara, mm, actually i may do that. :^)
thank you, annalyn, i'm glad. :^)
ginger, "the weight of glory". :^)
elizabeth, i love that quote. :^) one of the things that holds us back from doing it now is perfectionism .. the same thing that keeps us away from doing things worth doing .. because we're afraid we'll do them badly!
i do think it has something to do with how we are educated -- at school, in our culture, or both -- because there is such a pressure to excel rather than explore.
your daughter sounds like my son .. he has a work ethic to beat the band and energy to spare! :^)
so good! i am (quietly) loving every one of your posts. you are a treasure to enjoy :)
thank you, e. ;^)
Thank you! What a totally appropriate quote! I've been working on my book for four years now and I'm REALLY getting tired of editing. I'm so close to finishing and I just keep putting it off to finish this or that project, but I really need to place top priority on it so I can just have it done with and share it with the world.
yes! :^)
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