Two months of summer gone in a flash. I blinked and my To Do List still lives.

No deadlines.

Well none until the last week that is. So I still have a couple things hanging out to do. I had intended to spread them out through the weeks. I had intended to go the SeaWorld often. I had intended to go the Busch Gardens. I had intended to have a lush garden. I had intended…

What is it about intentions that hurt so much?

Unfulfilled plans and wishes leave a hunger, a starving dream that gnaws at the stomach, and ulcer than can only be cured by conversion from intention to action, by the food of completion.

Oh, there have been valid reasons for not meeting my summer goals (a severely sprained ankle for the most part), but that does not abate the worm of intention from boring into my brain. Even worse are the worms of neglect that drill holes in my relationships with others.

How do I rectify my drags? How do I rise above the abyss that hovers over the sea of despair that drowns my self-esteem, my worthiness?

I must soar to another land – the land of renewal. To meet the intention renewed. It’s never too late to change a miss to a hit. It’s never too late to redirect a fail to a success. It may be that I missed the timing, but I choose whether to miss the event or the opportunity to recreate one.

Has your summer met your expectations? It’s not too late to make it the best one yet.

Reading this has a cost. It costs you your time. I don’t want the price to be high, I try to keep it short (and hopefully of some thought-provoking meaning). It’s easier sometimes to just brush off something whether than to give it the time it requires to grow from an interaction with it.

I love learning. For me the cost is minimal in the learning of something because it’s such a pleasure to engage in the growth of mind. My mind is always active – sometimes more than I would like. Spilling Marbles is all about expanding the mind. Thinking about random or specific things. It is focused on growth – mine and yours.

What rings up the bill for me is putting something into action, especially in the physical activity arena. For example, I will spend hours planning the week ahead and implement (maybe) half of it. My brain fires on creating the route, but my body groans at the walk.

What is your greatest expense?

I have taken on the goal of becoming a plant lover and gardener. My history with plants has been one of undertaker. I buy one and start planning its burial with weeks (not to be confused with putting it in the ground, they go in the landfill and I run out to get a replacement. My theory has always been why buy cut flowers that live a few days when I can buy a plant that lasts for a few weeks for the same or less cash. I’ve even has some last for months.

So I’ve decided why not learn to nurture the wild and invite them to be a part of the family instead of planning for their wake.

This has been easier said than done. There is so much to know. It’s not as simple as giving light and water – who knew – how much is enough, too much? Or feeding them (whoda thought they needed food), when (and how) to give them a trim, keeping them from becoming tiny mites dinner, and how moving them causes them stress.

Stress! Now that’s what this relaxing event has given me. I’ve undertaken a task for life, not death. Any pointers?

Procrastination, the habit of putting things off, is a profound skill I possess. I’m not alone.

According to solvingprocrastination.com, “around 20% of adults procrastinate chronically.” Quite a statistic.

My boss has called me a completionist. At first, I felt insulted when I heard those words, but when he said it again it made sense.

I hate things hanging over my head so I want to get them done as soon as I can. The completionist craves the finality of a done job, while the procrastinator resists the starting process.

This is the war going on inside this doer.

Here’s where my friend Deadline comes to the rescue. Deadline is the mitigator of this battle. The commander keeping procrastinator in check. The looming deliverable is just what I need to get me up and off my you know what and out of my head to the task at hand.

Are you a procrastinator? What do you do to get motivated to action?