GHOSTS OF PROCRASTINATION

The word is not really used even though it does exist in Spanish (procrastinación) and it spreads its tentacles over quite a lot of spheres. The worst piece of daily news on the media nowadays is not just the crisis and unemployment rates, but also corruption and a severe lack of values. I’m not talking about religion but values for cohesion as society and to become better human beings who lead a more harmonious and productive life in community. Not some many decades ago effort, endurance, solidarity, sense of community and so many others were very important. When did they start fading away? Why do younger generations see things from another perspective and behave so differently?

Somehow procrastination has settled down and seems reluctant to move. Important things are not no longer seen as important and I believe I’m not the only one who feels that too many people focus on irrelevant things, actions, thoughts and leave those more important matter for later on or for never. The term procrastination is not really known here and in fact, I dare to say, that it’s the normality, some sort of cultural issue. Just remember Larra’s articles and the “vuelva usted mañana “ (come back tomorrow”).

Sense of duty, pleasure of getting things well done, importance of self-improvement, solidarity, effort, perseverance, patience.... Instead of being too passive, idleness and only enjoying the present and immediate future, forgetting about “building” something for the future or behaving thinking ahead it’d be better to work on something which will bring results sooner or later. Better for each individual and thus, for the society.

SELF-FORWARD

The circumstances might not be the best ones (they aren't...but at least now my health is finally much better) but there are always many reasons and impulses to move forward. Even when dreams blur and when what we aim for is not so clear, the key is to keep being active, receptive. Being physically active is also the right tool to have onelself fully balanced and better prepared for the coming times (coming days, coming weeks, coming months and even coming years). Anything positive will be useful, all efforts are useful, even if they don't seem to be fruitful in the short term.

A brand new year is not much more than a brand new month, a brand new week and even a brand new day. Just some mindfulness and awareness, look at oneself and the "beginning-of-something"-effect will help to be able to improve something or many things.

This 2012, in my case, began positively, after quite a bad 2011. Getting up early (very early, in fact) as always, studying, organising things at home, housechores, physical activity, interesting readings, some documentary film....and even setting new goals. I'm already thinking about starting some new undergraduate studies. After many years since I graduated on Political Science, and then did a Postgraduate-Master program (2-year long) on Asia and Pacific, in 2010 I started with Advertising and PR studies (undergraduate). There are not many subjects left to finish and keep as motivated as when I started and keep enjoying all lessons, papers I write, discussions on the net, bibliography I come across and read....And, why not something more? why not going further? As time goes by we're more able to see our strengths and those things we really really like and are suited for. I'm about to enrol on Psychology....I might not be old when I graduate but now is the time to begin and we never know in life. Psychology and advertising (marketin) match pretty well....and both are very compatible as well with some fields within political science.

VALUABLE VALUES

I’m afraid but the economical measures being taken won’t be enough. I believe an important change in values is needed, but it will require quite a long time. Why aren’t effort and self responsibility as well regarded as they used to be? It’s not just that the educational system has been shot and is still seriously injured, but also the kind of mainstream culture we’ve ended up having. There’s something wrong when in popular Spanish TV series the popular and admired characters are those who are just popular (trendy, rich, socially integrated and loved, for example) and those who make efforts to improve themselves or have success in studies or at work are just too often depicted as mean, unpopular, ugly, socially odd...

Individualism plus hedonism...and nothing else. The sense of community and working hard for the society and, at the mean time, making efforts to improve oneself blurred dramatically some time ago. How could we go forwards successfully overcoming this dark situation if we don’t believe a bit more in our abilities, fruitful efforts and reject passivity and that useless and hollow hedonism? Besides, optimism brings more more optimism and it can even materialize in positive real changes.


A person might be unemployed but there’s the possibility to get advantage of all possibilities of technologies, libraries....so as to learn something, continue studying and not just wait until a job appears. Time is too precious just to sit down and passively look. Unfortunate times like that are better spent analysing one’s skills and possibilities and do some kind of productive mood.