Maturity is the ability to postpone pleasure

Need a definition of maturity? Today's title is a pretty good one. The person who takes their own lunch to work instead of daily eating out chooses to pass on the Happy Meals in favor of a memorable feast of Filet Mignon. The person that keeps driving their used car just may be able to pay cash for a new ride down the road. You get the idea. Whether it is financial, moral, educational, spiritual or other; the person who postpones temporal pleasure in the short term gives them-self the opportunity to claim the greater and higher pleasures later. Many a senior wishes they had hit the books a bit harder as a freshman. Pay now and play later or play now and pay later. Maturity IS the ability to postpone pleasure.

Do you work better under pressure, or do you only work under pressure?

Procrastinators love to brag about how much better they perform when under pressure, but the truth is they really do not know for most of them only perform when under pressure! Many a student that crammed the night before the big test or did a semester term paper in a night walk around in a self induced caffeine stupor convincing themselves they really nailed it that time! If you are one of those, why not prove yourself right or wrong by actually starting something early. Giving thought to it and then rework it some more. After all, there is no good writing. Only good rewriting!

If you're going to do it, don't gripe!

     This one was handed  to me from my wife, who got it from her mom and of course I passed it on to my kids. I don't know which is more fun, signing up for too much stuff or complaining about   all of it? It is not just our kids that volunteer or sign up for little league, dance, drama and gymnastics only to complain on the way to each about "having" to go. 
     The truth is no one has to over schedule their life, but if you do choose to do so a sure fire truth is no one wants to hear about it. If you have too much on your plate, don't sign up next semester, but for this semester do it with a big ol' smile on your face. It is your plate. If you start it, finish it.  If you hate it, don't sign up again. But please, please, please don't complain about all your extracurricular activities. After all they are EXTRA! In keeping up with all the other families you just might find yourself drifting to the rear of the pack, but that is a pretty good position for watching the rat race. Life is a marathon, not a sprint and mom did say, "Not everyone is doing it. You're not!"

You Don't Have to Sit on an Empty Nest!

As soon as a child is born you begin to raise an adult. You begin the process of taking that totally dependent baby and making him/her a totally independent adult. We should not be surprised, nor saddened, by our children's adventure into adulthood that takes them out of the nest. In fact, that is the goal!  Independent adulthood launched at birth. But take heart empty-nester, you don't have to sit on an empty nest! You may miss those mandatory band festivals, Friday night lights and extended prom photo sessions, but you too can spread your wings and fly as you stop sitting on that empty nest. Date again, travel, eat real food, exercise, serve, find a hobby. Do all those things you wanted to do while you were at those PTA meetings. Now just may be your time to  soar as well.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever!

If setting boundaries in life creates margin and the greatest things in life happen in the margin of your life, then you don't have to keep carrying items 8, 9 and 10 on your 'To Do' list over to tomorrow! In fact, it just might be that some of those things that keep getting bumped don't need to happen at all or someone else might even do them. Life is about doing the best things not everything. When you get to the end, it really is about God and family and the truth is you are not as important as your constant flow of emails would have you believe. Ask if what you have planned for tomorrow is the next thing, a good thing or the best thing! Procrastination is bad, but setting genuine priorities is great.