Meridian Magazine :: Can Do Youth: A Round Tuit

A Round Tuit
By Vickey Pahnke-Taylor

I was thinking about the “Can Do” column, and some programs and other efforts that we hope to bring to fruition around this “Can Do” idea. That lead me to remember a handout I received years ago in a Relief Society meeting. It was a Round Tuit — a simple colored paper cut out in a circle. In the center of the paper were the words “A Round Tuit.”

The teacher explained that this was an important article to keep at hand — because so many things we plan to do, so many ambitions we have, so many ‘good intentions’ sitting in our heads never come to fruition because we never get ‘around to it.’ This Round Tuit, if kept and used, would help us get around to doing so many of the things we otherwise may procrastinate away until the chance had passed.

I kept that Round Tuit for a long time, and always smiled when I ran across it. Years have passed, and the class handout is long gone, but the memory and lesson has remained with me. Procrastination is the thief of many plans, ideas, ambitions and successes.

How many things have I missed out on because I didn’t get around to doing what was needed? How many blessings have I or my family missed because I didn’t get around to following through on a good intention? How much better could we be if we stopped procrastinating that little extra effort or that bit of adjustment needed in our habits?

My mind has turned to three thoughts that may assist us in putting away this weakness:

1. Move it! President Marion G. Romney once explained that, ‘It is through our own efforts and decisions that we earn our way in this life. While the Lord will magnify us in both subtle and dramatic ways, he can only guide our footsteps when we move our feet. Ultimately, our own actions determine our blessings or lack of them.

2. Keep moving! President David O. McKay perfectly taught us the importance of continuously doing what is required: “To work out one’s salvation is not to sit idly by dreaming and yearning for God to miraculously thrust bounteous blessings into our laps. It is to perform daily, hourly, momentarily… the immediate task or duty at hand, and to continue happily in such performance as the years come and go, leaving the faults of such labors either for self or for others to be bestowed as a just, beneficent Father may determine.”

3. Move priorities into proper order! President Brigham Young simply and beautifully helped us understand how important it is to prioritize and cease procrastinating the most important things when he taught, “Pay attention to what the Lord requires of you and let the balance go.”

Sounds pretty easy. Putting into practice these three ideas may prove easier for some than for others. For all of us, however, the rewards will come. Subtle but real changes will take place. Time and talents will cooperate more easily and to the benefit of ourselves and those around us.

That old saying, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there,” seems more true as the days go by. We have to Move It! I am grateful for President Romney’s words.

Some of us are fast, strong starters but can’t or won’t keep up the pace required. President McKay reminds us that we have to endure — to keep moving — in order to put away procrastination and its ill effects.

If we follow President Young’s words, our plates will not seem so crowded. Our thoughts and efforts may remain more focused on the most important things. Moving a few things around in order to get priorities in proper place will ease the load and keep us concentrating on the issues and efforts that will bring success.

Procrastination — not a pretty word. But so easily taken care of if we wisely move toward a greater commitment to the Lord. Self-discipline and increased purpose will decrease the delay in our lives, and keep us moving in the right direction!