James waits to get out of bed until the second snooze alarm sounds, his way of preparing to get out of bed.
Jason sees Tracy coming down the hall at church. Jason jumps into the bathroom before Tracy sees him. ”Whew”, Jason sighs, another close call.
For Gerry, paying personal bills twice a month is difficult. After paying a late bill she asked herself, “Why do I wait so long to write the check and mail the envelope?”
Putting off, avoidance or even waiting are descriptions of resistance. Commonly known as “procrastination”, resistance is generally an internal struggle, often a emotional and mental battle. How do you fair with your internal resistance?
Anxious, worried and even fearful feelings about people and situations, often affect our thinking and behaviors. In fact, these uncomfortable feelings generally cause us to make impulsive decisions about awkward situations.
What can be done to rescue yourself from resistance? Here’s a few ideas:
1. Remember a time when you were disappointed by giving into your emotional resistance. How did your procrastination affect you? Others?
2. How do you want the next awkward situation to be different? Write the specific difference down on paper.
3. Write down what you are willing to do to make the situation different.
4. What are you willing to give up to be different?
Here are some examples below:
Abby found herself remembering a time last week when she did not know what to do about a noise her car was making when driving down the highway. She ignored it, hoped it would go away. Later that week, her care made the same engine noise again causing her to worry about how she can not afford to pay a car repair. Today, she decided to schedule an appointment with an auto repair shop cause she does not want to pay for tow truck costs if her car breaks down. Abby had to give up her anxious feelings, face the uncomfortable call to the auto repair shop and take time off of work to get her car fixed.
Ryan arrived too late to visit Mr. Jones at the hospital, since he was discharged about an hour before Ryan came to visit. Ryan thought visiting Mr. Jones before he went home for the day would be a good idea, though not this time. Ryan felt disappointed, missing an opportunity to see Mr. Jones at the hospital though a little relieved, since making hospital visits is not easy due to difficulties finding the right room and the smell is pretty bad. On his way home, Ryan felt convicted of the importance of caring for people who are sick, as Jesus did. He considered making hospital visits a priority in his schedule by putting a note in his calendar the morning of his hospital visits. Ryan realized, giving an hour or two to visit hospitalized, church members may require him to come into the office a little earlier that day.
Sounds simple? What’s holding you back?
Let me explain, thousands of thoughts stream through out our mind every day. Of course, it is impossible to put all of these thoughts into action, even half or ten percent can be overwhelming. This is the reason contemplating taking action on a thought is so important, especially one that is uncomfortable (eating healthy food, talking to a co-worker about a conflict, etc).
