"I'll start my life when...."

Anyone else continually say this statement? Because, unfortunately, I do. It feels like I'm constantly waiting for something to happen, instead of making it happen myself. Or I'll make things happen... like for example, if I wanted to lose weight, I'd buy a bike so that I could start exercising, but in the back of my mind I'd say, "...as soon as I lose 5 lbs, I will (fill in the blank)". But as much as I do those things, there's always something else that comes up and so then it's "as soon as I get through this...I'll start my life..."

But until then, I feel like I'm in a waiting game...like waiting for great fortune to just fall in my lap and change my life....

Can anyone else relate?

Yeah.

I try to tie a future goal to an expected event.

When I finish this project or when I get this done, I'll do X.

Otherwise I'd do precious little bt procrastinate.

Yeah I'll start my life when I get diagnosed with inoperable terminal cancer, until then I'll catch up on some important beauty sleep.

I do know how you feel as I have felt this way before and see this type of thinking all the time.

I think you need to stop thinking and start doing. I think this type of thinking is a form of procrastination which might be associated with fear of failure in whatever it is you ultimately wish to do.

I also think your perspective is too wrapped up in itself, stuck in this pattern. You should really try to take a step back and look outside of this perspective, look at what you have, what you have been blessed with in your life and realize that life is short and can end in an instant not affording you the luxury of putting things off or looking too far ahead into the future.

Fittingly, it took a bike accident in California very nearly breaking my neck and the associated pain and grief of unsurety of the outcome of the situation to help snap me out of such a personal rut. Hopefully you can snap yourself out of this without such an experience...

Yeah, I most definitely feel like that! And I hate it cause I want to get started on everything, but I get overwhelmed when I think about everything I want to do.

Yeah, it usually takes negative prodding to get me going. Otherwise I sit on my butt a little too much...like, ahh, a moment of silence! All I gotta do is exist. (if only)

U guys just inspired me to keep my training up

cheers

Yeah, that's a pattern I've been battling all of my life. The type of thinking that seems to hold me back the most is "what if". What if I invest the majority of my energy pursuing "x" and it turns out that "x" isn't what I really wanted? Then I'm either stuck where I am or have to scrap everything and start over. It is a type of thinking that is very frowned upon and not empathized with in our society yet is prevelantly and frequently induced by the same. Confusing and strange to be sure. The conclusion I have come to thus far is that it dosen't really matter what you do as long your do your best and the only gains and losses that have any meaning or value are the ones of a spiritual nature and are not rooted in materialisim of any kind.

Edit: My post might be *slightly* off-topic... but I think it's fairly relevant, and interesting none-the-less

*logs off eNotAlone*

Procrastination really is the devil.

It's interesting, my mother and father and complete opposites in this respect!

My Dad is a "highly intelligent thinker" and University Lecturer. My mum works in a rather physical job at a supermarket. My Dad will always plan and think and sit at the table dreaming about "how he's going to do this" and such. In fact, he's done that for all the 21 years I've known him. He almost NEVER gets ANYTHING done. I think this is heavily related to the controversial OCHD, which I'd say my Dad has pretty bad.

On the other hand, my Mum is an amazing DOER. She doesn't waste time, she just gets on with it. She thinks about it just enough to get an idea in her head of what she wants done, and then she goes to it. She's a very active person (while my father is very inactive). In fact, you'll be lucky if you ever see my Mum relaxing, because she moves straight from one job to the next.

It's kind of funny sometimes, as my Mum frequently gets told off because she's not doing the job right. But the bottom line is, if she left it to him, the job wouldn't get done at all.

As for myself, being the bi-product of the two parents, disconcertingly, I find I'm a pretty equal mix. Which becomes quite difficult consistency-wise to be honest. Some days I'll be extremely productive, while other days, I'll get absolutely nothing done.

As far as this is concerned, I really want to be more like my Mum. She really is an amazing lady.

Time to stop procrastinating! Get to it, NOW!!

freeindeed, please take it from me, start doing, it doesn't matter what, just start.

At first it was easy to not do stuff and then the few times I would try, something just wouldn't work out and so I just stopped doing. Now, when I look back, I don't have a life to talk about, because I never put myself out there and did stuff.

I'm really trying now to start having a life, but after so many years of being passive it's that much harder to turn on the "get a life" switch. So, get out there and make mistakes, ask the guy you know will say "No", ask the guy you know will say "Yes", it doesn't matter what you do (within reason of course), just do it.

It's better to wake up one day saying "Boy, do I have some stories to tell" then to wake up saying, "I wish I had stories to tell"

I know how you feel!