Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

The Price of Procrastination

November 5, 2009 By Sandra Heska King

Replace a furnace blower motor: Cost $300. 

For failure to check and replace inexpensive furnace filters in a timely fashion.

Another trip around the same mountain.

Bounced check fees from failure to deduct automatic draft. Cost: $200.

Credit card bill paid online two days before its due date instead of three: Cost: Only $10, but a recurring issue.

Differential replaced because the fluid ran dry: $600.

Just for starters.

I too often practice the Scarlett method. I’ll think about the diet tomorrow. I’ll think about exercise tomorrow. I’ll clean house tomorrow. I’ll work on my lesson tomorrow.

Then the waistband is too tight, and I can’t find the perfect dress for the office party. My neck goes into spasm because of weak muscles, and the doctor sends me to physical therapy. I hide from unexpected company. I pull an all-nighter.

Putting a price on procrastination can be difficult or impossible.

I often wonder if my mother-in-law would have died at 72 from hemorrhagic pancreatitis had she sought medical care when she first began to feel “punk,” an unusual occurrence for her.

My own mother would not have suffered for so long from severe hypothyroidism had she undergone routine health maintenance.

Baby Jeremy might not have spent Christmas Day in the hospital after a seizure had I gotten a flu shot and not gifted him with my misery.

Neglecting spiritual maintenance like a regular quiet time, Bible study, and prayer can cost the ability to rise above disappointments and various life challenges.

Neglecting a relationship like putting off a visit, a phone call, a hug, or words of love and forgiveness can cost a lifetime of regret.

At any rate, we will now be checking furnace filters regularly.

I just remembered. I’m late for my annual gynecologic exam and mammogram as well as an eye check. I’m going to get right on that in the morning.

What are you putting off today? What consequences have your suffered from procrastinating?


“You may delay, but time will not.” ~Benjamin Franklin

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases, and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” ~Wayne Gretzky

Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. prayer bedes says

    November 5, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    I just put "replace furnace filter" on my calendar for tomorrow. Now, I just have to do it, instead of rewriting it again and again.

    It is easiest to put off the things that do not "demand" our attention. But, sometimes those are the things we need the most. Thanks for the reminder. =)

  2. Sandra Heska King says

    November 5, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    I'm very familiar with that rewriting thing. 🙂

  3. Tamika: says

    November 6, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Sandra thanks for giving me a much needed jolt. Just as I am learning to guard my writing time I have to be as protective to my alone time with the Lord.

    I really needed this.

  4. Sandra Heska King says

    November 6, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    Thanks for sharing, Tamika. I'm glad you connected. That blesses me.

  5. StillMe842 says

    November 7, 2009 at 1:31 am

    Girl you said it all right there! There's nothing for me to say, all I can do is give you 3 snaps in a circle..LOL..I'm so happy God isn't waiting on me to pay him back, meet him somewhere, or even to prepare him meal! Lord knows! I often have the problem of making everything top priority and emergent, so I end up never getting anything done! And it seems that when I do manage to finish a "to-do" instead of moving the next one up, I replace the finished one with something else! I do this with my relationship with the Lord as well! I'm still learning and transforming my mind into living out the concept that it's our duty to be good stewards over those things (our bodies, our homes, our children, our spouses, etc) that God has blessed up with and gave us responsibility of! Also, we need to remember that while it's necessary to be diligent and busy, we HAVE to make time to sit at his feet and rest in Him. Resting in Him is the place where wisdom comes and it all makes snese. God's not finished with us yet ladies! We're works in progress…

  6. Sandra Heska King says

    November 7, 2009 at 8:50 am

    "Three snaps in a circle."

    I love it!

    The amazing thing is that when we give Him the first of our time and attention, He redeems it. Somehow we end up with more time, more focus, more flow of Him through us, more of the important accomplished.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in