A good friend I hadn’t talked to in a while called me out of the blue the other day. As the phone was ringing I had to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to take the time to answer this call because I knew it wasn’t going to be a short conversation by any means. In the back of my mind, I knew I had a list of things to do that day and really didn’t have the time to listen and catch up on what was new in her life. As I was looking at the screen of my cell phone, the three items displayed were the name of who was calling along with two of the more important options labeled “answer or ignore.” (via: jackadaniels.com)
Hitting the ignore option would have sent this call directly into my voicemail where I could later listen to her recorded message and ascertain the relevance and urgency of her call. Hitting the answer option quite simply meant I made a conscious decision to answer the call and listen to the marathon of melodramatic updates about her life. Of course I’ve noticed these options on my phone before, but I never considered how much impact a simple decision between the two options denotes. Metaphorically speaking, how many times in your life have you found yourself hitting the ignore button instead of simply answering the call?
Procrastination is a something everyone can admit to falling victim to on occasions.
Often, people misconstrue storing away what we can possibly do today and placing that task on our “I-owe-you-one to-do-lists” of tomorrow. Trust me I get it, life is hectic, hard and has you heavily burdened with things you just have to get done. Many times we can find ourselves wishing for more hours in the day so we can catch up on the things we’ve neglected and deem important to us.
You’ve probably wished you:
- had time for love
- had time to start that business
- could spend more time with your kids
- teach a class
- quit your job
- do more community service
- or research how to buy a house!
You’ve even wondered if you hit this snooze button one more time, could you still get dressed and make it without being late? There are a lot of things in your life that have you choosing to hit the ignore button. You in no way should be proud of that, but you should at least acknowledge it’s a relevant reality in your life. Simply put, “ignore” is another word for “excuse.”
Excuses are nothing more than the little lies you secretly tell yourself and ultimately try to sell to other people.
Don’t let anyone fool you into believing that life is long; it isn’t. Life is short and I guarantee you this isn’t a dress rehearsal. We only get one chance to make the best of what God has blessed us to experience.
Also SEE: ‘Weak Men Can’t Love Strong Women,’ An Open Letter To Black Women & Move to the Next Level with Breakthrough Strategist Jack A. Daniels