Our Sloth

Let us look at what most of us may have experienced before:
"Today I have several things to do."
"OK, start with this one."
"I will do it later, break for now."
"Watching TV, surfing the net, chatting..."
"Those assignments can be done tomorrow because I still have time."

Obviously, we gave in to our laziness. In fact, everyone has his own dream. Nevertheless, some of them will go through with their tasks as long as they have set up their mind on the goal whereas some always live in their plan. Unfortunately, for those “well-planned” people, their plan is just a schedule stuck to the wall which is daily changed.

There is a story about boiling frogs: Put a frog into a pot filled with water, and then simmer the frog for a while. The frog was sensitive to tiny changes in temperature. However, he might think it is unnecessary to jump out of the pot at once as a result of his laziness. Eventually, he lost his consciousness and was put on the dining table. If we forgive ourselves without principle, one day our passion for life will die out in indulging ourselves.

Someone said being lazy is a kind of instinct. The instinct is something related to natural tendency. To a certain extent, there exists difference between instinct and laziness. In the dictionary, lazy means having the tendency not to change one’s life and working habit, which is not natural. Why do people not want to change? To fulfill the insatiability is the motivation. Actually, for most people, as long as they can dress warmly and eat their fill, they can always find something to satisfy themselves. Apart from that, before one decides to change, he or she will always make a risk assessment. Nevertheless, under most circumstances, they will subconsciously pay extra attention to the advantages of the change or even overstate the risk. That is why few people choose to take the risk instead of living the same life.

From a medico psychologist’s perspective, laziness is detrimental to mental and physical health. It will weaken people’s adaptation to the environment, leading to premature senility.

In fact, our sloth is a result of helplessness. Because we cannot or do not want to change our lives, we decide to escape from reality. Most importantly, we cannot afford the lapse of time. It is impossible for someone to strive for something if he cannot manage to take charge of himself. Also, our sloth suggests us to gain more rewards with less cost. That is why we extremely lack in initiative. As our laziness is too powerful, lots of things will not be done until we have no other choice.

We cannot forget our sloth, which is our archenemy. We should not trust “sloth”, because tomorrow does not equal to hope. Every day we have “tomorrow”, but we do not have “present”. However, our hope is based on every “present”.

How to overcome our laziness? Take actions! Remind ourselves every now and then. Yes! Take steps now. It is not enough to just set up our mind. Moreover, we need to warn ourselves that if we cannot overcome our laziness, nothing can be done.

Our life is limited, there is no second for each of us to squander. We should live every day as if tomorrow we would end our life. Cherish the moment!