I Almost Fell for It

“Beware of rashness, but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.”

Abraham Lincoln

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus –
Matthew 26:41

I almost fell for it.  I almost let my guard down.  Here’s what happened.  This afternoon was not good.  I got hit with some painful stuff and it felt horrible.  I felt horrible.  Then things got better.  My relief was huge.  So huge in fact, that I felt great again and I thought, “I think I’ll read some comic books or watch a movie.  I don’t need to do any work tonight. It’s been a long day.”

Then I realized that was exactly what the Enemy wanted.  It wanted me to stop working.  The voice said, “Celebrate.  Relax.  You can work tomorrow.”  And I almost fell for it.  Then I remembered my responsibilities:

·      Two blogs a day

·      At least one chapter of The Brothers Karamazov a day

·      A You Tube video

·      Finish a cover letter and resume

Now I may or may not get all this done tonight, but there’s no reason I can’t do the first three.  I want to renew my commitment to writing two blogs a day.   In this way, I can reach 365 by December 29, 2013.  But the only way I can reach my goal is to keep working.  In his book The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck says that  people who are emotionally healthy learn to delay their gratification.    He says,

“Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.”

So I’m delaying my gratification until I get some things done.  I’m not used to doing that.  Even here, with my 260^th blog, I still fight to stay focused and get things done  more efficiently.  The good news is that I’m getting them done.  It feels good.  Granted, it doesn’t always feel good while I’m working, but as I’ve often said, the hardest part is just getting started.

Get Started.

Keep Going.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last ten months.  And it’s changed my life.  It’s still changing my life.  I’m looking forward to what the future will bring, because while I know that I can’t control much, I can control my actions and attitudes and this can determine my future. 

One of the actions I’m going to control is to stop writing for now.  I’ve made my commitment for today, two blogs.  I’m ready to do other things now.  When I’m done, maybe then I’ll watch a movie or read a comic book.