Temptation vs. Responsibility
In life there will always be certain things that you don't want to do, but you know that you need to do. When we're young our parents teach us to apologize even when we feel we're in the right. We're told that we need to get a shot that we don't want. We have to go to school when we'd rather play.
But it doesn't end there. With age the number of things you need to do but don't want to do only grows. Suddenly you're expected to start saving for retirement when you'd rather enjoy your money today. You buy life insurance not because you plan on dying, but to help out your loved ones when the inevitable happens.
Even with all of the new responsibilities that come with being an adult, the other responsibilities don't go away. We still need to clean up after ourselves, apologize when we're wrong, and yes... we still have to get shots.
For one reason or another there are these things that we don't want to do and so we have a tendency to put them off for as long as we can. But in doing so all we're really doing is putting off the inevitable and likely stressing about it in the meantime.
If there's a conversation with someone you know you need to have, putting it off will only make you worry about it longer. If you don't want to fill out a living will because you're afraid of what it might signify, letting it sit in your to do pile will only make you think about it more. If there's a medical test that you need to have, avoiding it will only make you worry about what could be more than if you knew for sure.
It's true when people say that the anticipation is the worst part. No matter how bad you expect an event to be if it's something that you just have to do, then you're going to have to go through it sooner or later. Why not just get it over with so that you can move on? Let yourself feel free and relieved from the unnecessary burden of stress.
Once you finish your book report, have "that talk" with someone, or have that meeting with your financial advisor, you can put the stress and worry behind you. Once it's in the past you can move beyond it and free your mind up to focus on other things. Even if there's something else that you now know needs to be addressed, at least you have the knowledge to move forward.
For example, if you never met with a financial advisor because you've been afraid to find out just how poor off you are, you'll be prone to run through all kinds of negative scenarios in the meantime. Will I end up homeless? What if I can't afford food? What happens if I get sick? Will my children take care of me? But once you have that meeting, at least you'll know what steps you need to take to move forward. It may mean having to do something else you don't want to (like saving more and spending less), but at least you won't have the same sense of anxiety that comes with fearing the unknown.
So the next time you're faced with a situation where you have to do soemthing that you're not looking forward to, see if you can move it up in your schedule instead of putting it off. Get it done with. Get it out of the way and get the stress off your shoulders.