Having a drink after work with your buddies, going out for your friend’s birthday, leaving for the vacation that you’ve been planning – these are all the things that you can’t wait to do. Then there are the things that you dread. For example, nobody wants to have one of those horrible breakup conversations. Going to work after a very drunk and sleepless night doesn’t sound fun either. In all fairness though, those things are pretty ‘extra’ in the ‘I don’t wanna do that’ department. What about the simple things? I don’t know about you, but I for one am the master procrastinator when it comes to the following, which is super weird because these things aren’t only simple but they’re actually enjoyable too. It’s like once you start, you love it, but it’s the getting there that is always such a process.

1. Shower & Bath – The reason this is number one is because it makes the least amount of sense to me. How can something that feels so good during and has such a nice, clean outcome in the end, land in the ‘ugh I don’t feel like it’ category? When I’m in bed, the thought of getting up and my feet touching the cold tile of the bathroom floor acts as a barrier that immediately stops me from getting excited about the hot water hitting my face. Bath too, it’s so nice once you’re actually in there, playing with bubbles; but once again it’s the process of getting there that is just so ‘ugh’. You have to fill the tub, get all your face masks and essential oils ready, pick out your wine and the movie you’re gonna watch, make sure you have towels and a bath robe on hand, and that your phone is charged – it’s a whole ordeal! I’m telling you, getting clean is almost as easy as getting down and dirty; it’s the foreplay that takes forever.
   

   

    

2. Sleep – Sleep is like the easiest thing ever. I love sleep. And yet, I somehow find ways to sabotage it. It’s always something… I come home late from work and while my body is tired, my mind is all on crack from having dealt with a bunch of people all day long and it refuses to go in low power mode, so instead of going to sleep, I do anything but. Or… It’s midnight on my night off and my brain is like ‘most normal people are in bed already’; then the other part of my brain is like ‘bitch please, we stopped being normal a long time ago’ so naturally instead of going to sleep, my brain and I stay up and have a drink, which turns into several, which then turns into going to sleep at dawn cause while we were drinking we found a whole bunch of other shit to entertain ourselves with. Or… I force myself to crawl into bed at a semi-reasonable time and decide to turn on Netflix, you know, for background noise, because God forbid one would JUST go to sleep. What ends up happening of course is I fall asleep to some dumb sitcom, have a bunch of dumb dreams because of it and inevitably end up waking up in the middle of the night. Why I must make such a simple, wonderful thing so difficult, I will never know.

   

3. Gym – You know what they say; just when you’re tired and you think you can’t do it anymore, you get that second wind and you feel like you can conquer the world. Well, while that’s all fine and dandy, you still have to get past that hump and it ain’t easy; and in my case you have to reach that hump first. Getting my ass to the gym is a whole ordeal. “It’s easy; you just gotta start” they say… Yeah, I know! I gotta START and that’s the hardest part. I gotta pack a gym bag and actually get into my car and drive to the destination… Then I have to actually work out instead of giving into the urge of sitting on a machine and playing with my phone. And then I have to shower! Anticipation of all those things alone is making me tired. All that in comparison to being a couch potato with a slice of pizza in one hand and a beer in the other is looking much more appealing. My body disagrees of course. The fat looks at me in the mirror daily, judging me… Ultimately, I know that while the gym-less lifestyle may be easier than that of a workout junkie, it comes with its own problems. For instance, it’s not so easy to carry all that extra weight around and it’s definitely not easy to fit into your favorite jeans. So basically what I’m saying is my mind knows that it’s easier to work out and live a healthy life than to not. My mind knows this… it’s just so hard to start.

   

4. Cooking – Cooking is cheaper than going out and ordering in – fact. It can also fun! And as long as you’re set out to have fun, it’s definitely easy. You chop up a bunch of stuff, throw it on a pan and don’t forget to stir. Wine helps too. What’s not easy is deciding what you want to cook, how much of it, and how much time you’re willing to spend on it. The first and the last ones of that equation are those that mess me up the most. First of all, I can’t make a decision to save my life, so I end up buying a whole bunch of stuff I’m not gonna use in one sitting, which means it’s more than likely gonna go bad. Secondly, no matter how much time I think it’s gonna take me, it always ends up being a lot more. Perhaps it’s because time flies when you’re having fun or perhaps it’s because I’m too distracted by the wine I’m drinking to focus on the cooking task alone. It could also be the fact that I’m singing and dancing while doing it all. Regardless, it takes me hours to make a meal, which wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have a ton of other things to do. Knowing this about myself, I’m often faced with the tough decision of either spending a ton of time on this ‘easy’ yet time consuming thing or spending a ton of money on something much easier instead: takeout.

   

5. Reading – Unless there’s a reading disability involved, an average human that’s perfectly capable of reading should not go about life neglecting this activity. It’s not only easy, it’s good for you. It’s necessary. Books for your brain are like healthy food and exercise for your body – sure, you can survive without them but you’d be doing just that; surviving, instead of living. Oh, who am I to talk… I haven’t read a book in years. It’s just so hard to get started! I remember what it’s like… flipping the pages, not being able to stop, losing sleep because you just have to know what happens next. What happened?! Television happened. Internet happened. We’re so consumed by our digital devices that it’s hard to imagine sitting in a chair without any music or TV in the background or a phone by your side with the Facebook feed open, and instead, just reading a book. Reading is so easy though! You’re doing it right now and look how good you are at it!

   

So you see… All these things are super easy once you start doing them. It’s the getting there that sucks.

Featured Image