Procrastination: Ain't Nobody Got Time for That.

Today's message of inspiration has been brought to you straight from the mouth of Sweet Brown. Granted, she was talking about Bronchitis, but Procrastination is another thing that "ain't nobody got time for."

I've been incredibly guilty of indulging in Procrastination all my life, but I've realized that I really haven't done myself any favors by allowing myself to be lazy. The thought process that starts with, "I'll do this later," usually leads to doing nothing, both now and later.

And when it comes right down to it, finding excuses to put things off amounts, in the end, to finding excuses to put your life off. Every little thing that you neglect to do hinders you from really living the life that you want. Even obligations that can be irritating serve a purpose. Today you'll find a way to sidestep an unpleasant task or a boring presentation, but tomorrow you may find yourself calling out of work because you just don't want to go in or even dodging engagements with friends in the interest of staying home and doing nothing because you just don't feel like going out tonight.

There is a mental metabolism, and it's called Motivation. With the physical body when you exercise and do your best to stay active, your metabolism stays healthy. Yes, exercising may not be the most pleasant thing for some of us, but you have to keep that balance between what you're taking in and the effort you're putting out, otherwise you become a fat blob sitting on the couch with no desire to even walk anymore because you're now so physically unhealthy that you can't walk without pain.

Motivation works much the same. It's fun to sit back and take in entertaining activities, playing games, watching t.v., even reading if you're doing it all the time for the pleasure and not the mental engagement can become something that you use to avoid more challenging mental activities. Motivation is something that you have to work at everyday, much like metabolism. It's not something that you can just wait to have it come to you.

As a writer, I've been pretty slack in the past, using that old excuse "I have no inspiration today." But as Thomas Edison said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." There's a way around the lack of inspiration that artists of all kinds often find themselves being hampered by, and it's called faking it till you make it. Just because you don't start off the day with an amazing idea that captures your imagination, that doesn't mean there aren't ways to work towards the discovery of that idea. Writer's brainstorm and have writing exercises that jump start the creative process. Visual artists get into the habit of going out and just sketching things until something catches them.

The world around you is a tremendous source of inspiration for whatever slump you find yourself in. Sometimes going out and just breathing in fresh air will reset your mind enough to go back in and hash out whatever it was you were stuck on.

In summation, don't succumb to Procrastination, work on your Motivation, chase your Inspiration.

I think there might be a Dr. Suess book somewhere in there. X-x