Most of us, including me, would label "procrastination" as a time management issue. And it is - but not always. Certainly there are things I put off doing because I just don't have the time to do them. But, for the most part, there are certain things I put off doing because there is some measure of unpleasantness surrounding it. And, if I am truly honest with myself, I put off doing certain things because of my fear of failure. I have come to understand that a root issue of procrastination is that of fearing failure.
If I feel called to engage in some type of ministry or feel led to initiate some type of endeavor often my first thought is, "Will it succeed?" or "Will I fail and fall flat on my face?" With those thoughts in my head, I tend to back off and not risk. With that in mind, I keep putting off what I need to be about because I don't want to experience the hard stuff of failure. But who has not experience failure in their life. And, does failure ever have the last word? I know that failure is not a deal breaker but somehow the thought of failing can paralyze me and so I procrastinate.
The consequences of procrastination are not so great. If I am leading a team of people or a group of people then they being to lose their confidence in me. If I am pastoring then some significant opportunities might slip away because I didnt act in a timely manner. Even my spiritual growth is stunted because I am not out there living on a growing edge and am choosing to play it safe. what I find to be true, then, is that a significant growing edge in my life is to move beyond procrastination and move toward living life.
This was reinforced to me recently as I was reading a reprint of a Brennan Manning book. His recently re-published book Souvenirs of Solitude has this to say about procrastination:
"Procrastination is perhaps the worst, the most damaging failure of all. We who believe in Jesus, who hope in vindication, who proclaim the love of the heavenly Father waste our time trying to avoid the things taht are most important because we're afraid we are going to fail in them. How much faith, how much hope, how much love does the perpetual procrastinator really have?"
Manning then goes on to offer this spiritual challenge:
"In the final analysis, the real challenge of Christian growth is personal responsibility. The Spirit of Jesus calls out a second time. Are you going to take charge of your life today? Are you going to be responsible for what you do?"
I once read that a good way to define "responsible" is to think of it as two words, "response-able". In other words, we all have the capacity and the ability to respond. The question is, am I simply reacting to life or responding to life? A reactive heart is a procrastinating heart but a responsive heart is an alive heart. I want to be alive. I want to live responsively. That's my growing edge.
