Time is a precious commodity. A day is always equal to 24 hours for each of us and is never more or less. The hours of a day are same for the rich and poor, young and old, man or woman and the worker and the manager. We all have the same amount of time for working, achieving our goals, sleeping, enjoying, meditating etc. Our progress in life depends on how well we prioritize our work and leisure activities and how we do the work which is important and urgent versus the work which is not important but which we relish.
It is human nature to put off work which is important but which we dislike and turn a blind eye to it and take on other activities which are not important but which we enjoy doing. By doing so we procrastinate and cheat ourselves into believing that we are very busy and do not have time to deal with all work thrust on us. Work which involves responsibility, accountability, which in our eyes is negative or stressful are always whisked quietly to a corner and we keep ourselves busy by attending to endless chores of no importance in our lives.
We do not acknowledge the truth of our procrastination to anyone but know from within that we are being wilfully lazy. Over a period of time, this inner knowledge starts translating as anxiety and stress. We tend to get impulsive and work even more randomly. There is a loss of personal productivity and a mounting sense of guilt, self esteem and blame. Our family and staff at work frown on us as we do not meet our goals and responsibilities. We cause a fall in productivity and progress of others due to our procrastination. Let us see this little story of procrastination:
Once there lived a Guru in an ashram at the edge of a forest. He had several hundred students studying and training under him. The young men under his care were allotted various tasks for the successful administration of the ashram and its people. One day a group of young men were sent to the forest to collect firewood. One of them came upon a tree with no leaves. He was very happy. He thought that the tree was dead and dry and perfect for firewood. There was no need to search further. So he spread his upper cloth on the forest grass and slept away peacefully in the shade of a nearby tree.
The other students had walked away further in search of suitable firewood and came back with bundles of firewood for the ashram. On their way back, they kicked the snoring sleeper. The lazy student woke up with a start. He climbed the tree in a sleepy state and began breaking the branches. One twig snapped back and poked him in the eye. From then on, he had to cover his hurt eye with one hand and work with one hand to collect wood and bundle it. He collected a bundle of wood and ran all the way back to the ashram to catch up with the others. He was the last one in and threw his bundle on top of the rest.
At dinner time, the Guru made an announcement: Tomorrow there is a big function at the home of the village chief. He has invited you all for lunch. Please have an early breakfast and walk to the village. Offer your help for the function. After the function and lunch are over, you return back to ashram. So the next morning, the students in charge of cooking woke up early and began to prepare the breakfast porridge. It was dark outside and they picked up the top bundle of green wood thrown in by the lazy student. The fire would not start as the wood was green and damp. The sun came up but no breakfast was cooked. The students went to report to the Guru: That lazy student has collected green wood is not burning. We could not make the breakfast and will be late for reaching the function.
By our procrastination, we create trouble for others and for us. When it comes to making priorities, spiritual practices take a back seat for most of us. Even for those who are regular in practices, when there is overload or urgent work, the first item to be sacrificed is the japa and dhyana. Doing regular SitaRam mantra, meditation and following the teachings of the Guru keep us sane, peaceful and balanced in this world. Let us not procrastinate in doing our regular sadhana and other work in time and lead a happy and peaceful life.
