I was talking today with my 7th and 8th graders at Good Shepherd Catholic School where I teach part-time. At the very end of class, I brought up the topic of New Year's resolutions and they all took turns telling me the areas in their lives where they wanted to improve. I was quite surprised by the answers. The majority of them wanted to stop putting off doing their homework and assignments until the last minute. In other words, they wanted this year to be better than last year by not procrastinating as much!
I know the feeling. We all do. It's part of human nature to avoid unpleasant things in order to pursue more pleasurable things first. With age and experience, one learns not to procrastinate because the "price" of feeling stressed and under pressure (and most likely, doing a poor job in the end) teaches us to do things promptly. The other sad reality I find as I get older, is that if I don't do it immediately (or at least write it down), I am likely to forget about it until the last minute. Then the panic sets end.
Giving a donation to charity can also involve procrastination. We receive an invitation from an organization, we read a blog, or somebody tells us of a donation he or she made and we tell ourselves that we're going to do it, too...later.
Please join my 7th and 8th grade students and make the same New Year's resolution. No more procrastination! Make a donation to the Kurn Hattin Homes for Children to support their care--today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Because you'll forget! We're all human with many demands on our attention, but when you give today, you will feel the joy today of doing something important and meaningful for the new year! God bless you!
