Autumn Gatherings
by Isabella Dussias
“You reap what you sow.”
We’ve all heard that
before, and autumn seems like a good time to reflect on this time-tested adage.
Now, I must admit, I am a procrastinator. Yes, to the chagrin and frustration
of my parents, I often leave things to the last minute. I don’t have the
foresight that my parents have when planning out tasks and scheduling. I assume
that comes with life experience, but it is also probably just being very human.
I assume there are many
people that put off doing things because they are too difficult, they feel
overwhelmed or they are just plain exhausted. The self-help book or gym
membership may be purchased with good intentions, but the follow-through is the
trying task. Teenagers, I feel, have the market cornered on this behavior.
There are so many distractions in our lives, especially with the prevalence of
social media in modern society.
There are many excuses as
to why we don’t get to things in a timely fashion or know exactly how to
prioritize at this time in our lives. My priorities of communicating over
social media with my friends are much different from my parents’ desire for me
to spend some free time on SAT prep work. So back to my procrastinating… I
didn’t exactly prioritize things like SATs over the summer, and I am taking
them this fall for the first time. I have to say that my procrastinating is
catching up with me. I do feel a little overwhelmed, but in those summer nights,
this autumn seemed very far away.
Today seemed distant back
in July, but not now, and several academic due dates feel too close for
comfort. I guess we’ve all been there, putting off today and doing it tomorrow.
If you do this often, you become overwhelmed, as I am learning. So, it is
better to plan, to have vision and anticipate the time it will take to get
things done. “You reap what you sow.” I get it; I’m learning. Please don’t tell
my parents they were right.
Isabella Dussias is a
16-year-old singer-songwriter/composer from New Jersey. She enjoys writing
about issues that are important to today’s youth, and she believes music is an
important outlet to connect people and share messages through the creativity of
lyric and melody. For more information, visit IsabellaDussias.com.
