The magic is in the work you are avoiding

By Daniel Francis

Let me paint a picture for you. You’re having a typical day of work, busy, busy, busy, but you suddenly remember that one task you have to do on which you have been procrastinating.

You’ve been putting this task off for a reason: you really don’t want to do it. You’ve created the idea that doing this task is going to make you suffer in some way, so you avoid it at all costs.

In that moment of thought, you can decide to suck it up and get the task done or sweep it to the side—as you have been doing for weeks now. It is a ‘future-you’ problem. Does this sound familiar? I think it should be familiar to all of us.

What about the faith angle to this? You’ve been a devout Catholic forever now, and you keep up with everything you are supposed to be doing. One day, you are praying, and you feel the urge to ask God to tell you what He wants you to do.

You listen in silence, and you remember that your parish priest mentioned in Mass not too long ago that he is looking for parishioners to join a church committee because they need the help.

You wonder for a moment why your mind ran on that, but then you immediately understand the significance. You’ve been running away from joining a committee for years, telling yourself that you don’t have the time. Yet God has just told you what He wants from you. What do you decide?

I once heard a famous content creator I sometimes listen to read a quote. I can’t recall who said it, but the quote went something like, “The magic you are looking for is in the tasks you are ignoring.” This sentiment rings true in the scenarios I have described earlier.

We work, and we live. We are also looking for that special magic that will add another layer of meaning, productivity, excitement, etc. Yet what do we do? We continue doing all the same things we always do, which is not always a bad thing. The problem is when we do that and ignore the calling that comes to the activity which you’ve been putting off.

This activity could potentially create the escalation of events that could lead to that ‘magic’. You ignore the call from God to act because you simply don’t want to go through the hassle.

Imagine if, when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she was to bear the son of God, and she replied, ‘Nah, I’m good’, or ‘Can I do it later? This is not a great time. I am about to get married,’ where would we be right now?

We avoid the calling because we don’t want extra commitment, or we want to avoid perceived sacrifice, yet we yearn for more. The ‘more’ lives in the work you are avoiding.

Lately, I’ve been called to talk more openly about my Christianity with friends and family. It feels like a daunting task to me because I don’t want to become one of those people who run their people down with a Bible.

Yet, by avoiding the calling, I am disrupting God’s plan for me. So even though it feels awkward and internally I’m stressing out about bringing it up among friends, I will do it.

We are being called to move past the anchors that pull us away from what we are called to do. While it can be daunting, it honestly is more of a made-up fear in our minds, and once we get past the work, we arrive at the magic.

So, stop avoiding and start doing.

Daniel Francis, author of The Millennial Mind, The Millennial Experience, and How to Write and Self-Publish Your Book, is an entrepreneur passionate about leadership and storytelling. As a leadership development coach at Rebit Limited, he has spent the last four years equipping individuals to thrive personally and professionally. He also leads One Momentum Publishing, a hybrid publishing company through which he has guided hundreds of authors on their journey from idea to published book.

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