AMONG THE PARADOXES that apply to alcoholics is that we are impatient procrastinators. We want success and perfection right now, but we are caught up by a disease that functions as the world’s greatest delaying mechanism.
Taking things slowly and gradually, as well as simply, in Alcoholics Anonymous makes character growth more solid. We are told, “Easy Does It.” This does not mean, however, that we take it easy to the extreme of procrastination. The slogan often runs, “Sure, Easy Does It . . . but do it!”
We in AA are aware that the magic word “action” is a deadly foe to the practice of putting things off. We grow within our program by accepting involvement. That does not necessarily mean total commitment, as a friend of mine points out. He tells the story of the hen that said to the pig one day, “We should be grateful to Farmer Jones for how well he feeds us. Let’s repay him by affording him a fine ham and eggs breakfast tomorrow.”
The pig shook his head. “Hardly! For you that would be involvement. For me, it would mean total commitment.”
All AA action that reduces postponement of growth must start at home. We are told we must first get our own house in order before vital truths will be revealed to us.
Even when we are ready willing to give, nothing will happen as long as we simply sit and wait. We have to remember that procrastination means standing still, whereas the distance between any two points can be covered only by movement. There are some people who never know what is happening, others who know but choose to do nothing about it, and still others who make things happen.
Any problem can be solved by following the advice to “press on.” We should not move in haste; vigilance is a must. But vigilance can become boring and irksome unless we become involved with others. It is comfortable only when combined with friendship, caring, sharing, and love. And in spiritual growth, nothing takes the place of persistence.
Too often, we are reluctant in AA to air personal problems for fear of being ridiculed. We fear showing hostility, yet some hostility can aid character progress when we bring it out into the open right away. There is value in hostility directed toward things that threaten serenity, for example.
In AA, we are told we can reduce the urge to procrastinate by always taking care of problems and challenges when they first arise. It is dangerous to postpone decisions that prompt action.
The lesson is clear: Procrastination is a thief of time. The impulse to put things off can make us feel that we have very far to go in sobriety. The antidote for that is the attitude of the trained mountain climber, who seldom looks upward to be dismayed at how much farther he has yet to climb, but, when he rests, turns to look back down upon the gorgeous vista that shows him how far he has already come.