I Know I Need To

“I know what I need to do, I just need to do it.”

Have you been guilty of saying this? I’ll be the first to put my hands up and admit it.

When we go through a season of uncertainty and then finally get that solution or answer we need, it’s like we sit back and fold our hands. We say, “Ah, perfect, that’s sorted, then.” If you’re like me, you then get lazy. You have this solution to your situation presented to you, it’s in your grasp. Why do you not take it? You feel that now you’ve got your answer, you don’t need to do anything else. But, what’s the use of that answer if you never put it into practice?

So, why don’t you? For many cases in my life, there’s been no real answer. I’ve had the time, the ability, the skills to put that answer into practice. I just don’t do it.

If we’re honest, we get comfortable in our struggles. Especially when we’ve been struggling for so long. We’ve made our peace with living in struggle and confusion. We’ve taken an identity from it and worn it like a badge of honour. Of course, we still complain about the struggle and strive to get out of it, but truthfully we’ve become comfortable in it.

I believe that’s why we tend to drag our feet when our solution comes. We’ve made the bed of our struggles too comfortable that stepping out from that feels cold and unwelcome. We’re not willing to endure momentary discomfort for lasting results. If we never get up, there’s never any uncertainty. We know exactly what to expect. Taking a step out from our place of struggle and into our solution requires treading down a path we have no map for.

Knowing what we need to do to get out of the struggle is enough for us. We can remain comfortable in the bed we’ve made for ourselves knowing that, should we ever want it, the solution is within our reach. We could do it. It’s there. But, we’ll do it next week. It’s already after midday now, no sense in doing it half way through the day; we’ll do it first thing in the morning. It’s Saturday, there’s no sense in doing it on the weekend; we’ll do it on Monday. We only have five minutes spare, there’s no sense in doing it now; we’ll do it when we have an hour spare.

If we let ourselves, we can make a perfect excuse for any situation. We can talk our way out of anything.

Imagine if the time and effort we spent making excuses for staying in the bed of our struggles went towards putting our answer into practice.

Imagine if we stopped saying, “I know what I need to do, I just need to it,” and instead actually just did it.

If we stay where we are, things will stay the same; that’s already our outcome. But, if we step out and do the thing we know we need to do, we now have a new outcome available to us; things could change. If they don’t, we haven’t truly lost anything, have we? Because the outcome of things staying the same was already the path we were heading down by doing nothing.

So, make the step. Stop telling yourself, “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it,” and actually do it. Give yourself the chance for something to change instead of self-sabotaging out of an attempt to protect yourself from failure.

Don’t stay in the comfort of your struggles. Dare to be uncomfortable. The reward is great.