Procrastination is an awkward thing. I could go into why this is now, or I could put it off till later. As with most things, I will probably end up putting it off, and this will probably end up with me failing to do it at all. The large gap between this entry and my last, is testament to my aptitude at this skill. That isn’t to say I’m unreliable, it is just to say that I often end up putting things off, and focusing on other, seemingly more important things. Now sometimes this is a good thing, neglecting my blog to focus on work and upcoming exams is certainly a good example of this. However, it is all too easy to put seemingly trivial things off, and then come to regret this, realising that the trivial things in life are often much more important than we think.
Hindsight, is another awkward thing. The idea of hindsight is one often used badly. People do not realise that if we all thought about our actions beforehand, if we really did use metaphorical telescopes to look before we leapt into the metaphorical abyss, then the notion of hindsight would be a moot one. Advising people to think before they act, warning them of what they may come to realise after the event, by quoting the importance of hindsight, is a concept dripping in irony. If we are so focused on the future, looking straight ahead, trying not to slip up, we will be unable to look behind ourselves, loosing all concept of hindsight.
I therefore have no desire to tell people that, if we always think before we act, look before we leap, spell check before we hit the print button, that we will not make mistakes, because I know that is not something which holds true. We learn from our mistakes. Clichéd as it may be, it is true. The only mistake we can ever truly make that is wholly negative, is to slip up, and then not take note of why we did so.
Hindsight should not be used as a scaremongering tool, to try and avoid mistakes at all costs. It should be used to highlight the mistakes we are making, the mistakes we have made, and with a little thinking on our parts, the mistakes we will make. We must use it to help us to prevent the same mistakes occurring again, and to ensure that we learn from each mistake we inevitably will make.
It is worth mentioning here that I am, of course, imperfect. Other than to admit to my own imperfection, I say this because you would be perfectly justified to ask what right I have to tell others what to do. The answer to that particular question is: I don’t. I have no right to preach to others, because I do not hold all the answers and to pretend I do would be extremely wrong. However, I do not wish to be tell people what to do. I merely wish to share some of my thoughts on subjects which trouble me, because in sharing my own ideas, I may help someone troubled by the same things as myself. It is very easy to judge and very easy to think a situation is easy to deal with when you are not in it, but to judge yourself, or to change the way you think is much, much harder. It is therefore very easy for me to write down ways to look at life, and philosophies for better, happier lives, but, of course, to follow my own advice is infinitely harder.
I deviate. I felt it important to remind people of what I am aiming for here before I conclude. The point that I do want to make, my musing for the day, is that we do not need to think in terms of never making mistakes, if we made no mistakes our lives would be boring and unchanging. What we do need to consider is what we are putting off in our lives that we would regret not doing if the chance faded away.
We must ensure that what we put off, what we push aside for other issues, are not things that we will regret not doing. If there are things you can think of that you should do, not the real trivial things, but the really important things in life which you, for whatever reason, are procrastinating about, you should do them, before it really is too late. Remember though, what may seam trivial now, could very soon become very meaningful. However, by the time this occurs, it may be too late to do what it was you put off.