Is it procrastination or something else?

by Irwin Lengel
(Lakeland)

Ever ask yourself the question - Why am I putting off that which I say I want to do and probably can do but never really take the initiative to start? I do quite often.

One of the reasons I started blogging was because I felt I had things I needed to say and share with others in similar situations at this point in our lives. By situations I mean situations that we as retirees find ourselves in.

At this point in our lives I am making reference to the fact that – OK – now that I am retired and no longer have to get up and go to work five or six days a week, what is it I am supposed to be doing? By adding to this blog daily, weekly, or monthly (that too has yet to be decided), my objective was to share with others in similar positions that which I am doing in my twilight years. Things I do to keep my mind mentally challenged (writing and teaching). Types of exercise (in our case line dancing and walking) to keep my body physically challenged.

In return to these little snip-its about my life, I am hoping to receive, in the form of feedback, stories relating to what you, my fellow retirees are doing along these lines as well.

While I do not have a huge following at this point, I am happy to say that a few readers have contributed comments regarding my writing style. I in turn have returned the favor by reading and commenting on your contributions as well. To be quite frank here, I am very pleased with the responses I have received to date on my blogging.

One important thing I have learned throughout this process though is that if I spend a lot of time thinking about a specific project I would like to do (i.e., looking up facts and figures or reading about how others may have done it) I will never start anything of my own. Why, because the subject matter which I read leads me to believe that it is too daunting a project to even undertake or better yet, I am finding that the time spent reading what others are doing or not doing is and can be exhausting. Bottom line - I never find the time to actually begin a project.

What is the better plan? A better plan would be to sit down and prepare my own facts and figures. Decide what it is I would like to do, list the obstacles that may come up but also list solutions for coping with those obstacles. Unless the list of problems is so overwhelming that it is quite evident the goal of this project is unreachable, the next step would be to make it happen.

It is never too late to start something new, especially if it is something you have had the desire to do for a long time but for whatever reason, never allowed yourself the time to get past the thinking about it stage.

All one has to do is “Google” a combination of the word “achiever” with the words “advanced age” and you will see what people much older than we have accomplished by thinking positively about getting it done.

At 100, Grandma Moses was painting, at 84 Somerset Maugham wrote Points of View, at 82 Winston Churchill wrote A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, and at 80, one of my favorite comedians George Burns won an Academy Award for his performance in The Sunshine Boys.

We should not be looking at our age as a reason not to do something. To the contrary, we should be saying to ourselves:

I have to power to change my life no matter what age I am.

There are opportunities and possibilities all around us. All we need do is open our eyes and see them. Once we realize that we are the true masters of our own destiny, we just have to make the decision and do it. I intend to!

Allow me to end this posting by quoting yet another favorite comedian of mine, namely Larry the Cable Guy,

“Git R Done!”

Irwin Lengel

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