A Never Ending Cycle

I hate to do the laundry.  

Honestly, there is no part of the process I find enjoyable.  I have to collect the clothing worn during the week.  Drag the basket down three flights of stairs to the basement, where the washing machine lives.  Sort the various garments by color.  Spend an afternoon putting load after load into the machine.  Wait for the wash cycle to complete so I can then shove a load of wet fabrics into the dryer.  Wait some more.  Finally, drag everything back upstairs for the sorting, folding, and putting away.  

I’ve heard rumors there are actually people who enjoy doing the laundry.  Seriously, how can anyone think of what I’ve described as fun?  Oh and you can forget ironing too.  I’m not sure I even have an ironing board in my house.  

Of course, a little "wrinkle" in the whole issue of avoiding my laundry chores is that I usually end up with piles of clothing on my bedroom floor.  Dirty laundry needing to be moved to the basket…because the pile gets so tall it topples over.  Clean clothes get shifted from the floor to the bed with the intention of being put away.  They usually wind up back on the floor to deal with later.  The truth is…laundry is a never ending cycle of procrastination in my house. 

I am reminded of how procrastination and avoidance can play out in other issues of life as well.  We ignore unpleasant tasks or emotional issues, which can leave us temporarily satisfied but with a much bigger problem later.  Especially those things the Lord is dealing with us on.  We get a "Scarlett O’Hara" attitiude…"I’ll think about that tomorrow!"…but then tomorrow never comes.

Let’s face it.  The longer we avoid emotional stuff…for instance an argument we had with our spouse or an offense taken with a co-worker…the more out of control a situation can become.  Little piles of "dirty laundry" become overwhelming mountains we can no longer control.  Leaving someone else to pick up our mess.

There will always be unpleasant things we have to deal with in our lives.  Personal situations or issues we would just as soon avoid then have to face head on. However, the longer we allow something to pile up on it’s own, the longer the process of sorting it out can take.  Becoming a never ending cycle of procrastination and avoidance which can result in communication break downs.  Putting a damper not only on our spiritual growth, but other people’s as well.

Obviously the best answer is to deal with our "dirty laundry"…whatever it may be… as it comes along rather than ignoring or putting of until tomorrow what should be done today. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some laundry to do.

Technorati Tags: Laundry, procrastination, relationships, Washing machine