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Complete the Past

Decision Making· Freedom

21 May

Thanks for looking back at the Mother’s Day post, former procrastinators.  Now we’re back on track.

A procrastinator constantly feels dragged down.  It’s no wonder.  By putting things off, she adds rock after rock to the burden on her back.  We former procrastinators can avoid adding new rocks, but some old ones have been on our backs for a long time.  We need to pull them out.  Those long-with-us rocks are incomplete things.

I recently read The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.  He says, ”Each and every incomplete thing in your life or work exerts a draining force on you, sucking the energy of accomplishment and success out of you…”

According to Olson, “Here’s the unfortunate and powerfully destructive truth of being incomplete:  it keeps the past alive.”

How is keeping the past alive destructive?

Notice, when the past is “alive,” then it controls us even when we don’t know it.  It’s actively churning in our subconscious if not our conscious.  It keeps us from moving forward and from living fully right now because of the mental and emotional attention we give it. Even if we think “I don’t give that any thought,” realize when the thing pops up in our minds, we have to exert energy to push it away.  We’re not available for the present because the past has such a hold on us.  We are weighed down by the attention it demands consciously or subconsciously.

When past “I ought to’s” go undone, they create a massive weight.  Unfinished business drags us down.  Olson urges us to complete the incomplete.  Doing so enables us to live now and face forward.

What have you added over and over to your written or mental do list?  What “ought to” rears its head repeatedly in your thoughts?

Unfinished business could be

  • Thank you’s or letters you need to write
  • Memorabilia you need to throw away, especially if it connects you to an inappropriate relationship or time
  • Piles of to do’s that may not need to be done at all and now just make you feel guilty
  • Heartache that could move into healing with a counselor’s help
  • Tasks you agreed to perform but have not
  • Promises to kids or friends to go to that park or meet for dinner
  • That book you know you will benefit from reading
  • Going through those boxes from Mom and Dad’s house
  • Sports equipment you will not use again
  • A course you need to take for continuing education
  • A large project that will require a lot of time
  • Files from former work you no longer engage in
  • A hard conversation you need to have (Apology? Question to ask?  Request to make?)
  • Words of love never expressed

What unfinished business from the past weighs you down?  How can you take that rock off your back this week?

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BETH STERNE
Welcome! It's great to have you here. I'm a follower of Christ and a learner of new ways. By His grace, I am gaining victory over procrastination. This is where I share struggles I face and lessons I'm learning. Join me and other sisters as we put off procrastination and put on peace.

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"Beth’s procrastination talk led me to understand procrastination as a heart issue in need of God’s restoration not just a change of my ways. Beth’s personal experiences helped me discover practical ways to attack my own procrastination. As a result I have become a more loving wife, mother and friend who is able to use the gifts God has given me more fully. I highly endorse this talk and would love to hear it again and again."

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Julia F.

"Beth’s procrastination talk led me to understand procrastination as a heart issue in need of God’s restoration not just a change of my ways. Beth’s personal experiences helped me discover practical ways to attack my own procrastination. As a result I have become a more loving wife, mother and friend who is able to use the gifts God has given me more fully. I highly endorse this talk and would love to hear it again and again."
https://putoffprocrastination.com/testimonials/julia-f/
“Beth’s presentation on procrastination was truly eye-opening. I knew I had a problem with procrastination, but never thought twice about how it impacted my relationships and showed God that I wasn’t onboard with His plan. I began to see each instance took away from being fruitful; I was living for myself! After this revelation, I have been working on procrastinating less. I can see places opening up in my life for more peaceful moments, more time with and for friends and family, and more time for God’s plan to unfold. It’s amazing to know there’s more to life for me than a life full of “should haves” as a result of procrastination.”

Carole S.

Beth Sterne - Put Off Procrastination
2018-08-16T14:42:59-04:00

Carole S.

“Beth’s presentation on procrastination was truly eye-opening. I knew I had a problem with procrastination, but never thought twice about how it impacted my relationships and showed God that I wasn’t onboard with His plan. I began to see each instance took away from being fruitful; I was living for myself! After this revelation, I have been working on procrastinating less. I can see places opening up in my life for more peaceful moments, more time with and for friends and family, and more time for God’s plan to unfold. It’s amazing to know there’s more to life for me than a life full of “should haves” as a result of procrastination.”
https://putoffprocrastination.com/testimonials/carole-s/
“After Beth came and shared about procrastination, many realized that it is possible through the Lord's power to stop putting off what God has called us to do. One mother finally started a blog and another posted a ladies; tea for her church months in advance so that ...she would not put off having it. Although I thought I was not someone who procrastinates, I realized I had some relationships that I needed to work on. Procrastination, I learned, is not just about getting things turned in on time, it's about listening to God and doing what He says to do when He tells you to and obeying God's Word.”

Rebecca F.

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Rebecca F.

“After Beth came and shared about procrastination, many realized that it is possible through the Lord's power to stop putting off what God has called us to do. One mother finally started a blog and another posted a ladies; tea for her church months in advance so that ...she would not put off having it. Although I thought I was not someone who procrastinates, I realized I had some relationships that I needed to work on. Procrastination, I learned, is not just about getting things turned in on time, it's about listening to God and doing what He says to do when He tells you to and obeying God's Word.”
https://putoffprocrastination.com/testimonials/rebecca-f/
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Beth Sterne - Put Off Procrastination
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise! It has
no commander, no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
... you have put off the old man with
his deeds, and have put on the new
man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who
created him.
Colossians 3:9-10

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