There Never Is A Perfect Time.

The Sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light while it’s here is up to us. Journey wisely.~ Alexandra Elle

I’ll do it when…

I am SICK! A cold has finally caught up with me and seems to be taking revenge for all the other colds I’ve dodged this year…

Not only am I sick, I’m away from home, visiting family… for a week.

I planned on using this week to research and map out my new series, to catch up on my blogging housekeeping and to start the new year off being productive… When will I find the perfect time to get all of this done?

I won’t… Not the perfect time, at least. There’s no such thing. I’ve spent the last eight months worrying about a custody case that I was embroiled in concerning my daughter. On top of that, I was recovering from  a shoulder surgery suffered at work…

Life and stress can paralyze us… If I waited for the perfect, stress free time to start this blog, a word would have never been written. Instead, I dove into Doug Does life at the beginning of September, and have kept writing and drawing until this very moment… in spite of life.

Now! Or, maybe not…

So, my plan was to be extremely productive on our little vacation. Except yesterday, I had to drive my daughter five hours (each way) to be with her mother for the second half of Winter break… As I drove, I became sicker and sicker. By the time I arrived back at my sister in law’s house… eleven hours later, I was ready for bed.

I’m not a church person… Spirituality is an individual pursuit for me. My wife is a member of Unity Church though, and I’ll sometimes go to services with her. I like their inclusiveness and openness to all paths. Anyway, there’s a tiny Unity church near where we’re staying, and my wife wanted to go on Sunday morning…

But I am SICK! And it’s a tiny group (less than thirty)  and we don’t know them and I need to work on the blog and…

I got, up, showered, tamed my hair, Doug pinched my cheeks and I got on with living.

And I got up. I showered and got dressed. I smiled. Doug pinched my cheeks until I did.

We went to church and met a bunch of new and inspiring people. We even ate lunch there, and they know how to cook here in central Georgia!

I could have gotten out of church… I AM sick. I could put off blogging… I AM visiting and I AM sick… I could have told my ex wife I wasn’t meeting her half way with our daughter, it isn’t required of me… If I want excuses there are plenty laying around.

I thought this week would be perfect for researching my new series, but I didn’t count on getting sick. I didn’t count on life…

I’ll plan out my new series, in spite of being sick, and being away from home, and blah blah blah…

I’ll do what I intend or I won’t. Setbacks and unforeseen changes are just excuses in disguise. I can choose to use them or I can choose to keep moving forward towards my goals.

There is no perfect time to do anything. We do or we don’t, no matter the circumstances. Choosing action over inaction  leads to success, at least in my experience. That’s good enough to cut through my my identification with being sick. Excuses are common. The perfect time is a myth.

Do it now.

Tags: Creativity, inspirational, life, motivation, Philosophy, photography, self help, Spirituality