I was watching the antiques roadshow the other day (peak Sunday night living!), when a piece of jewellery happened to pique my interest…
It wasn’t just any piece of jewellery, mind, but a vintage Faberge necklace, engraved with a rather curious cyrillic inscription (click here for the episode, and skip to 53 minutes!)
The translation of the words eluded the valuer, and indeed the owner of this rather ‘splendid’ piece, and owing to the language barrier, viewers were told that a second opinion would be needed before the meaning could be revealed.
Lo and behold, at the end of the episode, Fiona Bruce triumphantly announced that the inscription read:
‘Maybe it’s best not to wait.’
Straight away, this quote was jotted into my notes app. A precious morsel of thought-fodder, for my poetic brain to chew over at some indeterminate later date. It's kind of ironic, I realise, that I waited until now, two weeks later, to put pen to paper on this beautiful subject of 'not waiting'
A more apt response, would have been to write my musings then and there, but alas, the run-up to Christmas is nothing if but a nod to the art of 'shoulda, woulda, coulda.'
The chaos of it all...it doesn't lend well to immediacy, let's be honest.
That said, I can't kid myself that the festive season is entirely to blame for the fact that some things on my to-do list, have been there since July. Even without the temptation of Love Actually and endless cups of tea, more things get back-burnered on the regular, than probably should.
As if to add insult to (productivity) injury, I'm most of the time unaware of this habit ... let alone the potential repurcussions of all that ‘putting off!’
Admittedly, at this time of year, there is a certain luxury in letting the lax-ness slide. However, after the excuse of the holiday season has passed, ‘maybe it’s better not to wait’ might just become my motto of choice.
It ties in nicely with a piece of advice I was given when starting out on my Psychology degree, and that is that ‘if it will take less than 3 minutes, do it now.’
Now I’m not normally one for a ‘hack’, but this is one that I find myself using quite often, especially when trying to weigh an excess of to-dos, against a scarcity of time.
Invariably, there is always something that can be done quickly, even if first impressions suggest otherwise.
It’s a nod, if you will, to the science of ‘no time like the present’, and while most of this article has viewed this concept through the lens of chores and responsibilities, I can appreciate that the sentiment might run deeper. Quite possibly, it is never better applied than in relation to…relationships.
The assumption of time is a common barrier to putting this into practice, and even though 'slow burning' has been gaining increasing popularity in the love lexicon, it strikes me as a slightly presumptuous concept.
Of course, the opposite - impulsivity - comes with equal margin for error, but there is a line in the movie 'My Best Friend's Wedding' which could easily banish any doubts about the benefits of less thinking, more doing.
The scene is earmarked by the classic line 'If you love someone, you say it, right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just passes you by.' Inevitably, in this case, the moment between Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney DID pass by, and the cascade effect is a cautitionary tale for anyone who doubts the value of immediacy, particularly as a by-product of authenticity! (In my opinion, she should have told him she loved him then, and not waited for the morning of his wedding to Kimmy. Just saying!)
All of this is an invitation, if you will, to not wait more often.
To 'just to it' - in the words of Nike.
Moreover, to harness a degree of 'healthy impulsivity' (a topic for another blog, perhaps!) in as many contexts as time and circumstance allow.
The rewards are exposed often only in hindsight. Like the wedding spontaneously brought forward, and the father of the bride that was able to attend as a result, speaking from bitter experience.
Less waiting - on a ‘siren call’ level - can be fortuitous, but it’s important not to forget the aggregate gains of those ‘low stake’ victories of action over ‘agh, maybe later!’
Like the dishwasher - my most-delayed and loathed to-do. Once emptied, it’s feels pretty good, I’ll readily admit.
However, what’s even more of a tonic, is how this small decision to NOT delay the inevitable (those mugs need to go away, sooner or later!) impacts the bigger picture. How it hones the anti-procrastination muscles, and frees up time for other opportunities and eventualities.
All this might be affording undue interest value (not to mention power) to the many, varied and, let’s face it, often laborious aspects of domesticity.
However, if nothing else, the empty dishwasher is a metaphor. A metaphor for how one door closing can often help open others, both in mindset… and reality.
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