I suppose I am procrastinating because my To Do List is just getting longer and my blog is not on it. Yet, here I am writing this blog. I am procrastinating.
Normally I procrastinate when I have work that I do not want to do. However, I am looking forward to the work that I'm doing. (well... sort of). It's like when I was in college and had papers to write. I looked forward to having the papers done. I didn't actually look forward to the process of writing them. I looked forward to printing them out (or emailing them in) and then being done. I knew I would get the paper done (and well if I might be so humble) before the deadline. I only asked for an extension once my entire time in college. I usually made good grades, even if it meant staying up all night (or more likely going to bed early and waking up at an ungodly hour to finish my paper). I am honestly a morning person. Or perhaps I work better when there are deadlines. I need to know that I have to turn something in by midnight on September 15. I will turn it in at 12:59. (or If don't think the email will be checked until 8 am - I might send it in at 7:30 am). I need this pressure. I work under this pressure. I work when there is pressure. When there is no pressure everything is amorphous and I end up procrastinating.
Alright now that I've spent an extra 15 minutes writing this I will go back to my work.
On another note - I am going to Lugano this weekend. For this conference. (sorry it's only in French, German and Italian). I am looking forward to getting a taste of Swiss Politics. I haven't really learned much yet about what is going on here in the political realm. I can't even tell you the Prime Minister or President of Switzerland. (the wikipedia article I linked actually tells me that Switzerland doesn't have a Prime Minister or a President, in the traditional sense of the word). Interesting....
Done procrastinating!
Showing posts with label switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label switzerland. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
March 17th.
March 17th. That's my day. Fourteen days after I turn 25 I will leave the United States once again and begin a journey that is still a mystery.
I received an email today saying that the Swiss Government, in all their efficacy, had decided to grant me a visa. Today I went to the post office and sent my visa application, my passport, some photos and some money to Atlanta. In a week or so I should get an envelope back with that same passport. The only difference will be that I will have one less blank page. I will instead have a sticker that gives me the right to travel freely within Europe and to live freely within Switzerland.
Today was a fitting day for me to get this visa. Last night a good friend of mine told me what I needed to hear. Honestly, I'm glad she was so open with me and blunt. Yet is always hard to hear your faults; especially when you already know them but are not yet ready to face them. She told me that I had to stop being lazy. I know (and have known for some time now) that I am extremely lazy. When I tell some people this they look at me as if I speaking Greek. They don't believe me or they don't understand what I mean when I say lazy. Yet my friend, even the first time I told her I was lazy, looked at me and said "Yeah, you're right." When I say I am "lazy." I don't mean that I sit around and do nothing all the time. (although I do watch a lot of TV and movies). I don't mean that I lack motivation or that I don't take advantage of opportunities that come to me. When something comes to me I take advantage of it. I don't go that extra mile, though. Jesus said that when a soldier asks you to carry his gear for one mile you were supposed to carry it for two. (This is really non-violent resistance, but that's for another day and another post.) I would carry the gear for maybe half a mile. Then I'd get tired and put it down and move onto something new. That is my laziness. For the first half mile I'd be the best carrier I could ever be. I'd be carrying it as best as I could. But then my laziness would kick in. I would want to just stop. All of this relates to my life right now because I am at that half mile point. I am the point where I NEED to stop being lazy. I am the point where I can't put down the gear and move onto something new. Instead I need to invest renewed energy into my fundraising. I fail to fully invest because then I'm not really risking anything. I'm not risking being hurt emotionally. I'm not risking failure. I'm also not risking success. I have the illusion of success. Other people see it as success. I know it's not real success. I've only gone half a mile when Jesus is calling me to go for two miles. In order to have real success I need to have real risk. I am beginning to overcome that fear. Part of the reason is that I see what the people at the World Student Christian Federation are doing and I want to be a part of it. I see the differences they are making. The people there in Geneva have decided to trust me to work with them. I want to be able to give myself 100% to this job that I'm doing. I don't want to begin and then fade and eventually be too lazy to really make a difference. I'm not going to be lazy anymore; I'm going to go for two miles.
I received an email today saying that the Swiss Government, in all their efficacy, had decided to grant me a visa. Today I went to the post office and sent my visa application, my passport, some photos and some money to Atlanta. In a week or so I should get an envelope back with that same passport. The only difference will be that I will have one less blank page. I will instead have a sticker that gives me the right to travel freely within Europe and to live freely within Switzerland.
Today was a fitting day for me to get this visa. Last night a good friend of mine told me what I needed to hear. Honestly, I'm glad she was so open with me and blunt. Yet is always hard to hear your faults; especially when you already know them but are not yet ready to face them. She told me that I had to stop being lazy. I know (and have known for some time now) that I am extremely lazy. When I tell some people this they look at me as if I speaking Greek. They don't believe me or they don't understand what I mean when I say lazy. Yet my friend, even the first time I told her I was lazy, looked at me and said "Yeah, you're right." When I say I am "lazy." I don't mean that I sit around and do nothing all the time. (although I do watch a lot of TV and movies). I don't mean that I lack motivation or that I don't take advantage of opportunities that come to me. When something comes to me I take advantage of it. I don't go that extra mile, though. Jesus said that when a soldier asks you to carry his gear for one mile you were supposed to carry it for two. (This is really non-violent resistance, but that's for another day and another post.) I would carry the gear for maybe half a mile. Then I'd get tired and put it down and move onto something new. That is my laziness. For the first half mile I'd be the best carrier I could ever be. I'd be carrying it as best as I could. But then my laziness would kick in. I would want to just stop. All of this relates to my life right now because I am at that half mile point. I am the point where I NEED to stop being lazy. I am the point where I can't put down the gear and move onto something new. Instead I need to invest renewed energy into my fundraising. I fail to fully invest because then I'm not really risking anything. I'm not risking being hurt emotionally. I'm not risking failure. I'm also not risking success. I have the illusion of success. Other people see it as success. I know it's not real success. I've only gone half a mile when Jesus is calling me to go for two miles. In order to have real success I need to have real risk. I am beginning to overcome that fear. Part of the reason is that I see what the people at the World Student Christian Federation are doing and I want to be a part of it. I see the differences they are making. The people there in Geneva have decided to trust me to work with them. I want to be able to give myself 100% to this job that I'm doing. I don't want to begin and then fade and eventually be too lazy to really make a difference. I'm not going to be lazy anymore; I'm going to go for two miles.
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