Procrastination... or, avoiding the present at the expense of the future...

I think the key indicator of being great at something is to make it look easy, effortless, to fool everyone else into thinking it was never hard to begin with.  And, generally, we don't get to choose what we want to be great at... it's chosen for us, already determined, predestined.  (For example, I will never be a great singer.  Or dancer.  Or basketball player.)  Of course, this doesn't mean greatness is guaranteed.  It still requires hard work, determination, tenacity, and all the other persistent qualities that accompany its achievement.  I say all that to get to the following:  I am a great procrastinator.  I don't mean to be.  I try to fight it.  But the inevitable is always the victor.  At the end of the day, when I look back at all that time, wondering where it all went, not a moment seems to have been wasted.  I am extremely productive at not getting anything done.  And I make it look so easy.

Take today, for example.

I'm leaving town tomorrow, going to Alabama to meet with a possible sending church.  It's kind of a big deal, you know, since I've been praying and waiting for this opportunity for over 2 years, and since it could lead to a phenomenal display of how God lavishes us with His faithfulness.  My To-Do list was simple.  Clean all my rooms (bed, bath, sewing) and pack.  That's it.  Two things.  Well, four, but who's counting...  Here's what I did in-stead, in-between, and in-addition:


Made this functional and totally unnecessary pin cushion out of a mason jar...
Sent a way-too-lengthy-message to a friend on Facebook...
Watched an episode (or two) of How I Met Your Mother...
Played fetch with Dakota...
Skyped with Craig and Merschon (they didn't enable me on purpose)...
Painted my fingernails green (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)...
Read Denise's new blog post...
Made a smaller, equally functional, and just as unnecessary pin cushion out of another mason jar...
Posted pictures of previously mentioned pin cushions on Facebook...
Watched American Idol with Daddy and Moo...
Etc, etc, etc...

I did manage to get my rooms picked-up and clean... mostly.  My bag is packed... pretty much.  And now I've spent the last half hour writing this little post.  Call it what you will... a last-minute effort to postpone what's coming next... a desperate cry against the limiting nature of time.  I call it a final attempt at greatness.  Destiny fulfilled.