Do you ever let the "dread" of doing a task take control and paralyze you from actually doing the task, only to realize that the "dread" was much more work than the actual task? I do it with mopping, laundry, putting up vegetables from the garden, cleaning out a closet... this list goes on and on. I notice that my kids do it, too. They do it with school and they do it with cleaning their rooms. With the kids, it will often even manifest in the form of a full-on melt down! Oh, what a waste of precious energy and time. What I would give to have even 1/2 of the energy they waste in their melt downs!
I wonder just how much energy and time we waste on "dread"! If there were some way to measure it over the years of our lives we would more than likely be very shocked at the result. I'd bet we probably waste about 2 hours per day on "dread". If you live to be 88 years old, that's about 32,142 days or 771,408 hours~ of which you spend 64,284 hours, or 2,675.5 days or 7.34 years of your life on "dread". Over 7 years wasted! Time is so short already. Do we really want to waste any of it on something that is not productive at all? It serves no benefit and actually takes away from us one of the most precious commodities in life.
I could do a lot with 7 years time. Imagine how many kisses I could give my husband and kids in seven years. How many new places in the world could I visit in seven years? How many words of love and encouragement could I speak to my friends in seven years? How much could I praise God and tell others about Him in seven years? How much more could I enrich my life if I were given seven (extra) years?
It is definitely worth it to make the effort to stop "dread" dead in it's tracks! As hard as it may be, I want to fight my human instinct and tackle on the tasks of life with speed and care, without wasting one more second than I have to. I am 37 years old. I have already wasted so much time and I don't want to lose any more of it to "dread". My kids are very young. Imagine what a gift it would be to them if I could teach them to stand up to "Dr. Dread" and send him quickly on his way instead of inviting him in for coffee.
"The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 13:4
"The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway." Proverbs 15:19
"One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys." Proverbs 18:9
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men," Colossians 3:23
"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:13-14
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