'Now' to the good, 'Later' to the bad

Many people form a habit of not applying their mind seriously to problems and programmes. Such people easily get confused and they are perplexed even when there is a slight change in the situation or there is a very small difficulty.

They sleep over matters when actually they should be alert and active. Their conscience does not pull them up if they are neglectful and slack. They become so thick-skinned that they do not even mind if others point out this bad and harmful habit of theirs nor do they feel their conscience twitch.

This type of postponing is a criminal waste of one’s precious lifetime and societal resources. It is, in fact, a sin against one’s own self and against others as this prevents a person from attaining any high goal in life and deprives him of many achievements.

However, in contrast, there is also a good form of postponing. If one has a habit of postponing, one should better transform it into this kind where one can use postponing to their advantage to put off certain bad indulgences or activities. For example, when a chainsmoker gets an urge to light up a cigarette, he can use this habit of postponing in a positive manner and tell himself: “Not now.” Thus, he should go on postponing for his own good.

It has been observed by psychologists that if a person postpones his anger even for an hour, the tempo of his anger comes down quickly. Similarly, by postponing again and again the act of drinking alcohol, one develops the power of self-control and is, finally, able to give up that bad habit forever.

This kind of postponement, therefore, becomes salubrious. So, if we want our moral or spiritual development, we should adopt the formulae of postponing what is bad and doing, without delay, that which is good.

For if we postpone what is good, then it is likely that our mind may change or our enthusiasm may diminish. It would, therefore, be in the fitness of things to put our good thoughts into action at the earliest. So, the slogan for the good is ‘Now’ and that for the bad is ‘Later’ or ‘Never’.