Walking past a local shop the other day, I saw an advertisement in the window (people exercising and rather advertising the fitness watch not promoting the exercise taking place) saying “There are seven days in a week and someday isn’t one of them.” Catchy and true. However. I feel I can add to that – oneday is also not one of the seven days of the week.
This phrase made me think, forced me to whip out my phone as I entered the Clicks to just jot this down to remember that I want to write about this. That is the thing with me and writing – inspiring ideas come at random times and if I do not catch the essence at that very moment, then I miss the boat with writing an entry about that!
So something I say often is “Oneday”. My Sister-from-another-Mister aka Dora knows this saying all to well. I will walk around mumbling to her, “Oneday Dora, oneday….” and then I continue the conversation. She always laughs and responds by saying “Yes Elsie, oneday…” and then we part our ways to do our jobs.
Before I noticed this advertising slogan in the shop, I remembered of a cartoon I saw before. Something that I had been wanting to write about for a while now. This slogan just inspired me and got me to writing this piece. What a mission it was to find the cartoon, but I managed to find it on the internet and include it in this post. This to me is the best way to show procrastination and delaying what you know needs to be done.
In Afrikaans we have a saying Van uitstel kom afstel and that is so true. Why are we waiting before we start to be the best versions of ourselves? What are we waiting for? Why do you want to wait for your work to be less demanding before you just start exercising? Why do you wait until the children are bigger before taking on a new project or opportunity that comes your way?
Why do we wait? Sometimes I think it is the fear of the unknown. Or perhaps the known. For years I was praying to God to let me please, pretty please, LOVE exercise. Well, let me tell you, I stopped and started exercising so many times before, I lost count. This was for about 10 years, from late 20’s to mid to late 30’s that I had this thing that Oneday I will exercise.
Guess what happened? Oneday I woke up and I realised that I was almost 40. So when am I going to start? If I do not make Oneday or Someday a part of my plan to execute in my own life, well, then it will never happen. So to get back to the fear of the (un)known. I KNOW what it feels like to exercise the first time, after not doing anything for a long time.
That feeling SUCKS let me tell you. You feel like a train hit you while running the Comrades, all in one. I think that was what held me back with truly starting with the one thing I wanted to do for so long. The other thing for me, that I want to accomplish, is to eat better. Oh man, I just LOVE food. I sometimes feel like eating the whole fridge, just because I have cravings. Let us admit this – we ALL have cravings!
And then I start to complain I am fat, like in the comic strip. And then you decide you want to make a choice to eat better and to “diet” (which is something I could never do before in any event) and then when Monday arrives, the day that you HAVE to start eating healthier, you just don’t feel like it.
Because you KNOW what it is going to be like. For 21 days you are going to struggle, craving things, being put into temptation, etc. And then, one day, you just decide THIS IS IT and you start by making small little changes, not big changes. When you look back, you will see the progress you have made, but while you are in the process, taking it one day at a time, you sometimes feel like giving up hope, because you feel you cannot do it anymore.
What ever it is that you are struggling with (these are just two of my struggles, which I still struggle with to this day, but manage better now than when I was younger), all I can say is JUST DO IT. Just start. Do not procrastinate! You will procrastinate your life away and then one day you will wake up, 20, 30 or even 40 years from now, being much older than what you are now, regretting that you postponed for so long.
Don’t go through life wanting to start Next Monday or Someday or Oneday! Start today! What are we?? Fat!!!!!! Do something about that which is making you feel fat (figuratively speaking too, not only physical) and unworthy and change that. My motto is to be the best version of myself, everyday. I don’t get it right everyday, but I surely try!
Die dae van die week…
