Recently my 7 year old son Josh and I had a discussion.
Some might even term it an argument.
He is at the stage of his life where he knows what he wants to do and that doesn't always reconcile with what I want him to do.
I had asked Josh to close the doors to his dresser, clean up his closet a little and put away a few clothes.
He decided, instead, to play Lego's.
After a few minutes I came back in the room wondering why the room had not been cleaned yet.
This has been a recurring theme and we had to have a conversation about the time frame between when he is asked to do things and when they actually happen.
I don't know if it got through to him and I suppose I will have to have the conversation with him again soon, and probably dozens of time before he picks up on the concept (or he might never get it and have to learn it a different way through other life experiences.
) What really struck me was the principle of the lesson: the time between when we are asked to do something and when we actually do it.
Now that I am grown and on my way in life, I don't have a parent there to tell me to clean my room or eat my vegetables (although now my wife, Jessica, perfectly fits that role!).
Strangely I don't know if I could say that I now live the principle any better than my son does.
My mom is no longer the voice in my life telling me to clean my room or eat my vegetables, but there are people who still do talk to me, and often I ignore both of them.
I am too busy playing my own Lego's to listen and quickly follow those that still care to talk to me.
The first person who still cares and tells me what to do is myself, and often I find myself listening to me as about as effectively as Josh does.
"Get to bed on time tonight so you can get up early and do some reading in the morning before work.
" "Exercise this week.
" "Don't eat as many sweets this week.
" "Help clean the house while your wife is out shopping.
" "Don't procrastinate your work project until the end of the week.
" I tell myself things that are intended to make my life better on a constant basis.
I have an ideal vision of the person I can be or should be and know the actions that I would have to take to get there.
A happier, healthier, more charitable, and more productive self.
And, just like my son's room, my life is often less organized as I would like it to be.
And just like my son, I tell myself what to do and there is a disconnect between what I tell myself and what I actually do.
I was reminded of this principle while listening to the song "Live like Your Dying" by Kris Allen The chorus reads: Yeah...
gotta start Lookin' at the hand of the time we've been given here This is all we got and we gotta start pickin' it Every second counts on a clock that's tickin' Gotta live like we're dying We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to Turn it all around or throw it all away We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em While we got the chance to say Gotta live like we're dying As frustrated as I was with my son not doing what he was supposed to do right when I told him, I am often equally frustrated with myself for not actually doing the things that I know will improve my life.
The principle still remains true in my life.
If I simply act-and act quickly-on what I feel I should do, my life will start to more closely resemble the ideal that I see for myself.
What do you want to be? What do you have to do to accomplish it? Even if it is a small step in the right direction, will you do it right now? I wanted my son's room clean right now.
Will you do right now what it takes for you to be successful? Quit playing Lego's, get up, and get going right now!