Start Your Journey

[Lauren]

A very interesting story is that of an Arab who wished to visit a friend living in a faraway country. The Arab was very poor - too poor in fact to be able to afford any form of transport for even part of the way.

He decided to make the journey on foot. It took him many weeks to traverse the deserts, climb the mountains, and ford the rivers.

Eventually, footsore and weary, he arrived at the home of his friend who greeted him with enthusiasm and amazement.

"However did you manage to make such a long journey?" the friend asked.

The Arab's answer was simple: "I started," he said.

Often when I am confronted with a task that looks as though it will be very long, difficult, or unpleasant, and I wonder how I am going to cope, I remember the Arab.

I start.

It is remarkable how much shorter, less difficult and less unpleasant a task will seem once it has been begun.

Frequently, we find that it is not nearly so bad as we had expected it to be; but be this as it may, there is no other way to achieve results than to tackle it.

It is extremely foolish to try to find a way out of, or around, a difficult job that simply must be done, and to put it off until a later date certainly does not help to make it any easier.

Conversely, delay may make the job seem harder.

Procrastination, we are told, is the thief of time. It is true that a great deal of time is robbed or wasted because people postpone acting when they should.

Opportunities are also wasted: those who procrastinate sometimes find that they have delayed too long and the chance has been given to someone else - someone willing to do the work on time.

The next time you are confronted with a task that you think will take a lot of your time, which seems to be beyond your capabilities or which seems as though it will be unpleasant, do not make it more difficult by wishing that you did not have to do it.

Start.

[Paula]

thanks lorna

:wub: