ONLY JUST MADE IT

I knew there was something I had planned to do last weekend, and it wasn’t until I picked up the outgoing mail from the office yesterday to post on my way home that I remembered. Do you ever get those ‘on the tip of your tongue’ moments, only they’re on the tip of your brain, those things just on the periphery of your thinking which were very clear in your head at some point or other, but have sadly gone missing at the moment you need to recall them or actually do them.

For me, the writing on the envelope was the writing on the wall and brought it back to me in one fell swoop. A letter addressed to the tax office reminded me I’d intended to put aside some time on the weekend to prepare my tax return, seeing as this is the final week to get it in on time.

What could I have possibly found to do of more importance than my tax that suppressed the memory of needing to face such a vital task? Bit of gardening, out for a coffee with friends on Saturday arvo, relaxing evening, church on Sunday, load of washing, bit of paperwork, curl up in the recliner to watch a movie. Hmm, easy to see how the importance of these things far outweighed the need to do my tax.

So, what was I doing last night? My tax obviously. Was quite proud of myself, located and downloaded the 2010 version of e-tax without calling for help from anyone, filled the whole thing out after compiling all the data from my records, sent it to the ATO and still had the kettle on for a cuppa by midnight, and in the middle of it all even managed to find time to watch the IT Crowd and RPA.

Admittedly, my tax return is a fairly uncomplicated thing, like me, and I’m often amused how procrastination can mess with my head. I have one job at work which I loathe, and the longer I put it off the bigger it looms as it takes on proportions far greater than it deserves. It’s like a mountain so steep I know I can’t conquer it, so I try to skirt my way round the edges, hoping it will somehow go away if I ignore it long enough. Doesn’t work though, and we’ve all found it’s usually as we face just one bit of the mountain, take one step to chip away at it, that the task begins to look a little more manageable.

There are those who ‘never put off till tomorrow what you can do today,’ and others who ‘never do today what you can put off till tomorrow,’ but in the end we all run out of ‘putting off’ time for whatever it is we’re neglecting. Almost forgetting to do my tax isn’t anything of earth shattering importance, but I wonder what other things of lasting value I’ve relegated to the too hard basket I need to attend to.

Ticking items off the To Do list is one thing, and doing that can bring a real sense of relief and achievement, but it’s usually the ‘people’ stuff where we can come unstuck. Spending time with our children, telling someone we love them, setting aside time to heal a broken relationship, going out of our way to support someone who’s struggling, these and many more take time and effort and in some cases a lot of courage. Even as I write, I’m challenged and confronted, for I can be lazy when it comes to making the sacrifices necessary to see someone else become more of who they’re destined to be.

But I’m optimistic. All mountains have a way to the top. You just have to find the right path.

ALL LOCKED UP

Yay…I did it myself. The front door lock is replaced, I can now open it from the inside as well as the outside, took me about 40 minutes all up, not bad for a novice ‘not very’ handy type person. Getting it apart was simple, but then had to go out to the shed and get the drill as the holes for the new one weren’t quite in the same place as the old one.

Managed that ok, put it all together then couldn’t get the key out of the lock. The little doo hickey that slots into the whatsit was the wrong way round wasn’t it, so had to unscrew it all, turn it round, put it all back together again, then hey presto out came the key. As you can see from the pic the left bit doesn’t line up 100% with the right bit, but I did the best I could with the section chiseled out of the door jamb from the last striker.

Procrastination definitely slows me down at times. The job itself wasn’t difficult, but believing I’d be able to do it, that’s usually the hard bit. I wonder how many other, more important things there are I put off doing, simply because facing them seems like a mountain way too high to climb. More often than not, it’s our relationships which suffer because we don’t bite the bullet and make the first move toward resolving whatever is the issue. A simple ‘sorry’ can work wonders, a word of encouragement, a compliment, ‘thank you’, a card or letter or email if face to face is too scary, it really doesn’t have to be that hard.

Ok, one job down, what’s next on the list.