Take Action to Transform the Delay

Take action to transform the delay, as faith has so much to lose if it fails to win in our lives. Doubt brews crippling thoughts that awaken an ever-greater evil if we don’t take them. Its sole miserable mission is to poison us with apathy and resigned thoughts to stop our progress. It is named Delay. A burnt orange in appearance and with a thunderous voice that can shock us to our core, Delay’s physical appearance could be described as that of a burnt orange. With its whining song of concern, doubt breeds uncertainty, but delay breeds real terror.

Our chests feel as if something is ramming its head into them. Our every cells are shaken by delay’s thumps and screams. Please wait! There is a boom. Please stop! There is a shout. You shouldn’t! Let’s do this! Don’t go! It will hurt you! This is not the right time for you! The path is uncertain; listen to my brother Doubt! Put an end to it! Don’t do anything. I warn you that you will be hurt! I am saddened! I feel embarrassed! I’m feared! Totally destroyed! Take a seat!

You’re doomed if you don’t wait it out! It’s not the right time! The closer we get to action, the louder the delay’s voice becomes. There is nothing wooing or seducing about delay; it is a dictator of terms: stop or be hurt, wait or be ruined. It is rare for our minds to argue when faced with such dire choices. In the face of internal fears of rejection and ruin, why wouldn’t we stop? Our minds start crafting masterful arguments to justify inaction when moving forward sounds like suicide.

In order to protect ourselves, we become incredibly confident in our negativity, saying things like, “Well, the conditions aren’t right for me to start yet.” It’s not a good idea to rush into things. So, if life doesn’t move forward fast enough for us, delay takes over. There are times when we wait and wait for the right time to strike out on our own, to approach a potential lover, to seek a higher position, to start a new project, and to fight for what we truly desire.

People of action become apathetic and insignificant because of delay. Potentially great men and women have missed their chances more than any other factor. This is the misery of mankind’s inaction, of delay celebrating a victory over our soul by not speaking up when we should have, working when we should have, fighting when we should have, loving when we should have, living when we should have—this is the misery of mankind’s inaction.

There have been more dreams destroyed by delay than by doubt; thus, it is the greater evil. Although doubt awakens our souls and worries our hearts, we can still act with courage and swiftness when we are at our best. Delay, however, runs through our conscience, and we cannot act. Nevertheless, there is hope. There is always something to be done. In the same way that doubt has an antidote, so does delay.

Moreover, taking decisive action is the antidote to the poisons spread by delay: fear, apathy, and indolence. We subjugate our meeker impulses when we take the initiative despite our trumped-up desires to wait it out in fear, when we pick up the phone to make that important call, when we walk over to talk with that cute stranger, when we enroll in that new course, when we take that risk—these things set off an internal tidal wave of power.

Delay is freed up when we take decisive action. A person’s destiny rewards them with success and heroic recognition in life if they act. If heroes waited when called to action, would we have any heroes? It is only through overcoming the terror within and advancing that a hero can achieve greatness. An Olympian who trips during the race but gets up and catches up, a bystander who jumps in to save a drowning girl despite being afraid, and a whistleblower who speaks out despite knowing he will be fired A hero takes action even when he or she is afraid to accomplish important things.

When our hearts wish that we behave more nobly and courageously, cowardice is what we do according to our fears. Acting overrides fear and apathy as the test of humanity’s future. Allow all this nonsense about why we don’t deserve it for now—all this waiting for everything to be perfect—to fall by the wayside.

Don’t let hesitancy hold us back. Now is the time to do the things we have put off and feared doing in the past. We should sit down this night and come up with a list of things we have been putting off in our lives. Is there anything we haven’t started yet? In what ways have we slowed our next move because of the delay, and how can we resume the progress torch again? We become stronger men and women when we pay attention to these types of questions. The ability to act on our plans, regardless of the terror within, is what makes us legends.

Now is the Time

Our roles as observers, directors, guardians, warriors, lovers, and leaders are always available to us. The moment will be owned by us in ways we never imagined if we are determined to activate it. A motivational surge will occur. There will be a return to life. Our entire being will be filled with vibrancy. In our lives, none of us will be able to master all of these roles at the same time. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t ignore them. In today’s world, let us commit to enacting these roles with more presence and power by studying them. Those people who understand that they must not let the little moments of their lives pass unnoticed and unlived spread the sunshine of enlightenment.

These warm rays of hope can be felt if we decide not to detach in any way from our lives. There is no point in wishing for a better tomorrow or avoiding today’s reality. The moment and all that it has given us and all that we choose to give to it must be revered. In time, our character and destiny can be purposefully forged as we choose our roles and responses to the world. Each and every divine moment spent alive is a gift, and through these efforts, we will rediscover its immensity and freedom.

Read More: We Must Expect and Honor the Struggle