Laziness Defined
Laziness is something that is a part of all of us. It takes us over when we first wake up in the morning and lulls us back to sleep by dragging our hand over to the alarm clock, sometimes unconsciously, depressing the snooze button that allows laziness that was once limited to our minds to completely encompass our entire bodies. Laziness continues to stalk us throughout the day, in the handicapped buttons we press to open doors, in the piles of things sitting next to your workstation mentally labeled "next week".
In America, laziness is taking over. It is becoming a product that you can buy. It comes wrapped in plastic and has electronic flashing lights and sounds that sound uncannily like actual songs on the radio. Laziness is an accessory for your iPod. Laziness strikes at the peak of your creative energy. The bottom peak.
When you are at your lowest, perhaps you are burned out from exercising or you've had a long day and people have been yelling at you, you think of things that you would like to do, that you need to do, but you won't do them. Why? Because you inevitably find things that you will want to do more than the things you need to do. And you will put off those important things for a few minutes. Minutes that turn into hours. Hours that turn into days. Days that turn into years. Everyone always says when years have passed that they marvel at how quickly those years had passed them by. Before you know it, you're in your late 30s and you're married to someone you don't like and you go to work everyday for a guy that once had more ambition than you, and you end up hating yourself among others. So why would you be one of the people who just sit there and watch the years pass them by? You must take action now, or you will not live up to your full potential.
I've heard some people use various expressions for their own motivation. One particular that I find interesting is, "Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow?" I suppose one would say this to oneself when in the middle of something that they don't really want to do, and thus send him- or herself into the situation that I described earlier. Years ago, I adopted a mental note that I say to myself whenever I'm thinking about discouraging myself from something that goes, "What's a better time than now?" This little personal rhetorical question is one that helps me get through my day and helps me to not put off things until its too late. Instead, I've found that my procrastination turns out some of my best work. Like another saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Sayings aside, I will leave my last words of advice for all you slackers out there, "Just do it!"
In America, laziness is taking over. It is becoming a product that you can buy. It comes wrapped in plastic and has electronic flashing lights and sounds that sound uncannily like actual songs on the radio. Laziness is an accessory for your iPod. Laziness strikes at the peak of your creative energy. The bottom peak.
When you are at your lowest, perhaps you are burned out from exercising or you've had a long day and people have been yelling at you, you think of things that you would like to do, that you need to do, but you won't do them. Why? Because you inevitably find things that you will want to do more than the things you need to do. And you will put off those important things for a few minutes. Minutes that turn into hours. Hours that turn into days. Days that turn into years. Everyone always says when years have passed that they marvel at how quickly those years had passed them by. Before you know it, you're in your late 30s and you're married to someone you don't like and you go to work everyday for a guy that once had more ambition than you, and you end up hating yourself among others. So why would you be one of the people who just sit there and watch the years pass them by? You must take action now, or you will not live up to your full potential.
I've heard some people use various expressions for their own motivation. One particular that I find interesting is, "Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow?" I suppose one would say this to oneself when in the middle of something that they don't really want to do, and thus send him- or herself into the situation that I described earlier. Years ago, I adopted a mental note that I say to myself whenever I'm thinking about discouraging myself from something that goes, "What's a better time than now?" This little personal rhetorical question is one that helps me get through my day and helps me to not put off things until its too late. Instead, I've found that my procrastination turns out some of my best work. Like another saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Sayings aside, I will leave my last words of advice for all you slackers out there, "Just do it!"
posted by Leland J. Fischer at 7:10 PM
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