The Big Easy

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"We let ourselves fall into making it easy on ourselves---and in turn we open the door to making it hard."

Young Chief ,1966, in Joyce Hifler's A Cherokee Feast of Days, Vol. 11, p. 319

I didn't like it, but this is what jumped out at me this morning while I was reading meditations. Thirty-two plus years in recovery and twice that in "real years"----and I am still making things hard on myself. You'd think I'd learn, but then I seem to always be looking for an "easier, softer way." Young Chief is right, I just make things harder for myself.

Perhaps some examples might clarify my meaning:

* I got home from vacation over two week ago and was too tired to unpack. Now, am still not "unpacked." Things are piling up on top of my suitcase, and I can't even remember what is left in the suitcase.

* I hate the inconvenience of weighing and measuring portions when I prepare my meals, so I "eyeball it" and will, consequently, probably end up gaining weight.

* I don't want to bother to load the dishwasher, so I wait until my sink is piled high with dirty dishes and/or I am running out of clean silverware or bowls....then it is much harder to empty my sink and get all those dishes ready to be loaded into the washer.

* I save "everything" for a garage sale that is always too much trouble to actually undertake-----so my house is on the way to looking like a hoarder lives here, and it is hard to find things when I want them.

Looking back at my examples, it is obvious the character defect of procrastination is still causing me problems and making things harder. I think one of the laws of physics should be that putting a thing off just makes it more difficult to do in the future. But then, again, I think that is what Young Chief was saying.

So, this morning's lesson is to quit putting off something you don't want to do because the longer you wait the harder it will get. And sometimes, what we put off can kill us. Our addictive behaviors are hard to put down; they are like old, comfortable friends, but those very "friends" may actually be killing us. If we are lucky we seek help and enter recovery. Please don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today----especially if it may save your life.

God Bless and keep you.