Finish What You’ve Started
As a student at my beloved Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development, one of the assignments we were challenged with as students was to complete something in our life that was incomplete. Now you would think that to be an easy task…NOT SO! For me it was a great undertaking. I had plenty of unfinished projects and ideas to choose from. First, I looked around and tried to find the easiest one to complete. I figured that if it were “easy” I could knock it out quickly and get back to binge watching “Bridgerton” on Netflix. What I wasn’t expecting was to feel the anxiety that I felt each time I decided on a particular project.
There is a reason for everything that is incomplete in our lives. Believe it or not, the things that you have not completed could represent something in your life that you would rather not face within yourself. Maybe you have a fear of failure. It could be a fear of the future or the fear that when it is completed others won’t appreciate your work. Sometimes our incomplete tasks convince us that we are somehow saving time for ourselves…i.e. a fear of not having enough time. We dress this behavior in a suit that we call Procrastination. But procrastination is fear. We wouldn’t dare call it fear because it sounds like defeat! So, we call it procrastination and use it in our conversations as if we are describing a temporary condition that we have encountered.
But remember the anxiety that I mentioned above? That little twinge of “oh Lord!” when you even think about doing whatever it is. That’s the clue that you have an underlying fear keeping you from moving forward. Don’t be alarmed…you’re fine! Don’t walk away from it feeling fear and defeat. Sit down, take a deep breath and go deep enough within yourself to ask, “what is this I am feeling?” Take notice of when you feel it. There may be a childhood memory that caused fear in you that comes forth. It could possibly be an embarrassment that you are reminded of in that moment. No matter what it is, you are strong enough to push past it and accomplish what you want to do. You may find that journaling your thoughts and feelings may be just what you need to help you put procrastination in its place.
I decided to complete my guest room; I had only put it off for ten years…lol. I did it! I realized that I had a fear of spending money…well actually, my fear was that I would spend the money that I had and then be without. I settled it within myself, set a timeline and budget and honored myself by sticking to both the task and the budget. It felt amazing and once I completed that task I moved on to others. I have now redecorated my entire house and purchased new appliances. I found that setting the budget allowed me to keep my power therefore canceling out the fear. Take a look around. Finish what you’ve started and then start something new.
I love ya!
Coach Vernissa