The Lone Path Home - Procrastination

“This day will not come again” — Taku-An¹

The Moment is the only reality. Nothing else is. Speaking from the vantage point of The Experiencer—the Experience—the Experienced, the moment is the only reality. Human beings have been praised as the most evolved of all beings. There is no attempt on my part to contest that statement. There is no reason to contest it either. Those who feel that it needs to be contested may contest it.

There is no man in the whole universe that can stop time. There is no man who can retrieve time. The moment is intangible and defies by its very nature any form of opposition. The moment is, and in the very instant it is not. It has become irretrievably united with what we call the past.

Our point of reference, when it comes to points in time, is always the present moment. The present moment is already the past before we even attempt to evaluate it. Time and tide wait for no man. So goes the old proverb. The verb lends itself to be used in the singular form, despite the case of two separate nouns in the statement. Tide cannot exist outside the boundaries of time. Or is tide just another manifestation of the intangible element of time?

Life is a sequence of events that takes place in time and space. We have no control over it. Admittedly, I am avoiding entering into the topic of spirituality for reasons that I shall not discuss here. Why is the term procrastination in the title?

Procrastination - A Futile Indulgence

Procrastination is, in my interpretation, an activity that takes place within the framework of the spacetime continuum. For lack of any other apt term, I am borrowing this terminology from physics.

Procrastination was one of the stumbling blocks that taught me volumes about life. The wisdom from those lessons became the topic of my deliberations only at later points in the dimension of time. Did I regret it? No, I did not. Do I regret it? Again, no, I do not.

Indeed, I can, and without remorse, admit that I do not regret, in any measure, those moments of procrastination. In case the reader raises the question why, my answer is that such a regret is an act of futility. Engaging in futile actions is a waste of time.

The Law of Cause and Effect - Incontestable

An effect is undeniably preceded by a cause. There cannot be an effect without a cause. That is a topic that can be discussed ad infinitum. Whether one likes it or not, the fact that effects have causes and that causes have effects is incontestable.

Procrastination was the unfortunate solution to moments that were moments of indescribable desolation, horror, dejection, fear and frustration combined. Here, I shall not expand on those factors. Solutions are my forte. Not that solutions became my speciality. They became my skill. It was a decision that I forced upon myself. It was a decision to live. It was a decision to win without fighting.

Life - A Chain of Interconnected Events

Events in life are interconnected. Effects follow causes and, in turn, become the causes of further effects. Thus, the chain continues into infinity.

One can submit to the chain and live enslaved to the nature of submissiveness. Alternatively, one can go into deliberation and force a change.

Accepting the law of cause and effect is not a negative trait. On the contrary, saying that it will always be the same will become a pessimistic attitude.

The traumatic moments in childhood did, for a time, make me pessimistic until I decided to change that myself. Then, why did I have to procrastinate, you might ask.

The truth is that I had no choice. There came a moment when, like a cornered animal, I turned around. There was that moment, when I considered my tormentors as invincible.

Here, I need to break my stream of thoughts. T o r m e n t o r s. That is a very harsh term. There is no intention on my part to accuse anybody of tormenting me.

Trauma - A Painful Period, Lasting Memories

Life brought me face to face with individuals who had undergone trauma. Like attracts like, so the saying goes. The law of attraction? Quite possible.

There are times in life when, undergoing trials and tribulations, we have no possibility of getting a reprieve from the situation. We need to live through the times. We need to gather the strength we can. We need to sit it out until the time comes, when we can help ourselves or get help. We need to sail through the storm. We need to brace ourselves and survive. We need that to live, to become stronger than we are and thus develop that inner strength to withstand the cyclones that life might throw at us.

At Times We Need to Lose Time to Gain a Foothold

Time lost is lost for ever. However, at times, we need to let time pass. The old saying, every dog has its day, is very much true.

Beat the Iron While It is Hot

Awareness. That is a sentence itself, which speaks volumes. Never should we let darkness cloud our awareness. Despite the sufferings of the trying times, we need to keep our perception crystal clear. We need to keep our cognition free of emotional influences.

The dark cloud that mars the face of the golden sun cannot permanently blemish that golden orb.

Emotional responses, I have learned from my own situations, can cause damage. At times that can be irreparable damage. We all know that physical hurt can heal in course of time. Mental hurt might remain for an uncomfortably long time.

Hence, keep the awareness clear, and when the time is right, we need to summon the courage to stand up for our rights. We need to respond. We need to respond at the right time. That is the key.

The Battle that One can Never Win by Continual Fight

Running away from the battlefield should not be an option. Yet there are moments when remaining in the battlefield is not going to solve the conflict. We may need to leave the field of conflict. I do not call it running away. When the house that is supposed to give us shelter, warmth and care becomes an inferno, there is no logical point in remaining put.

When the ground is not conducive to my living a human life, I seek out a ground that can support me, help me grow and be myself again. That is not running away. That is simply survival to live. That sentence might sound strange. One must, however, first survive in order to live.

Procrastination: There is a time for it, there is a time to stop

When we keep a watch on life, as moments roll on, and we find it is time to stand up and act, that is the moment we need to end the procrastination. We need to realise and accept the truth that procrastination is never a solution for the rest of our life.

It must be emphasised that I do not believe in fate, I do not believe in destiny and I will not entertain any arguments that engage in an exercise to convince me otherwise. Whoever believes in fate, destiny, etc., is free to do so. Each individual has the freedom to keep his or her own belief.

The Moment. The precise moment. The moment that calls us to action. That is the moment we have to grasp firmly. We are faced with a compelling situation. To be or not to be, that is the question. Shakespeare’s words are relevant to this day.

Just as Taku-An said, this day will not come again. We need to make a small change to that statement for our sake. This moment will not come again.

The Answer - The Lone Path Home

The answer is my path, the path that is mine and only mine, I am the driver of my bus. I am in the driver’s seat. This is my journey and I am the traveller and the planner of my journey. Hence, it is The Lone Path Home.

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