One of the worst feelings in the world is waking up to a mind of dread that is cluttered with the hills and mountains of things that you must face for the day. Before you are even vertical in position, your brain has snatched your consciousness into overdrive, preparing you for the dreadful day you are about to have. It's awful because you will be operating under a cloud called anxiety. And the anxiety exists because all of the distressing things that you should have (and absolutely could have) taken care of yesterday are still there today. Not only are they still there, but no doubt things are probably worse because the time constraints you were faced with previously have now been tightened, considering the fact that you have wasted the last 24 hours. The dread turns to anxiety and the anxiety turns into depression. And this is what you must carry around for the day all because you put off the things you could have done the previous day until today!
Why do we as humans allow this to be a fight? As if life doesn't have enough rounds for us to fight already; leaving easy matters undone create unnecessary rounds for us to fight later. Unnecessary rounds cause us to be tired. Some rounds should end quickly simply because our adversary is inferior in the fight. He has disadvantages that cause him to fight with limitations. Petty irritations should not be a lingering fight for us as believers. Petty irritations are things that can be handled swiftly and efficiently. Irritations and offenses are things we can easily fight and be done with. Rounds like these may require a little fight, but not along drawn-out battle. We have bigger fights coming in life that will require strength and girth that we often use up on short-rounded problems. It's easier to fight tough rounds when you have taken care of the simpler.
Some rounds are knockouts. These are simple things we must face that can be handled almost immediately. That business you keep neglecting to take care of; car maintenance you put off; bills you delay paying; the uncomfortable phone call you don't want to make are all knock-out rounds that have turned into full blown bell-to-bell contention simply because we failed to knock it out at the beginning. It behooves you to figure out what emotional or mental block keeps you from handling your short rounds and knockouts and deal with it head on so that minor things won't turn into gigantic headaches later.
Failing to deal with the thing that causes us to procrastinate puts us on the treadmill of deceit. This is where you are running from the truth or running from what's right, but you gain no forward progress. The only thing this treadmill of deceit gives you is fatigue. Even after running, you must still turn around and face whatever the thing is. The problem is now, the issue has grown to be much bigger. And because you have been running from it for so long, you are exhausted. At some point, you will hit a dead end or a day of reckoning. This is the day you will realize that you made a huge mistake that has left you in a pool of serious regret. This is the day you have to face the dire consequences head-on. This day is not pretty. It is the time when you will have to roll up your sleeves and prepare for a long, dreaded battle that you have no stamina for.
Many of our tiny knockout issues become major battles because we allowed them in and let them stay too long. When our issues remain, they become strongholds that require gruesome and ongoing war with your flesh that could have been handled and dissipated at its start.
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