November 13, 2026
A certain circularity underlies the unattended or unanticipated challenges. Depending on what is at stake, the ignored issue, like a captured viper, when released, can swing back to plant a bite to grievous effect. The experience can be benign or bruising, depending on the nature of what was ignored, which, if it had been ‘stitched on time, would have saved nine’.
Remarkable, how many people ignore good housekeeping. They find themselves at the mercy of those who may choose to help without cost (keep dreaming), or at a cost of effort and time, or compelled to accept reality when the time to correct the ills of procrastination is long past.
Ignorantia juris non excusat is a Latin legal maxim meaning "ignorance of the law is no excuse." This principle states that not knowing a legal requirement or prohibition does not exempt an individual from legal liability for violating that law. Therefore, a person cannot claim lack of knowledge about a law to avoid the consequences of breaking it (or seeking to redress what had a time cap to complete).
Procrastinating or deferring in some instances is tantamount to waiving the rights to ownership of a movable or immovable property, intellectual property or a patent to a discovery. The loss of ownership can be significant.
The laxity to do
what needs to be done, the gravity of which is revealed only later. Being
flippant about our studies or our health comes back to haunt us later in life. But
it is not a dead loss. Should we die as a result, then the matter is moot, since
in death there is no gain or loss. It is an economic measure only meaningful,
joyful, or hurtful when we are alive.
Should we be alive, we can always remedy matters by tapping our creative energies and a reservoir of positivity to turn a setback into a comeback. Recently, I found myself in a spot, on a seat rather, buffeted from above by a blower of air that formed an invisible curtain to corral the cool air within the AC Coach, and a seatmate, who wanted the common handrest for himself, to spread his bulk, unmindful that I also possessed a hand.
I pivoted with the help of an understanding Ticket Collector, who for all purposes and intent, was the Collectorate on the Train, reassigning seats that were unbooked or vacated. In one calendar week, I found myself in a series of ‘spots’. It had its inconveniences. But it was also a path to discovery. Building a knowledge base that comes only from being in the spot.
My mother has a remarkable memory. At 86, she can recall her balances in multiple banks to two decimal points. As a homemaker, the mental register of stockouts is triggered and replenished in time. Conversations with friends of ours - we are four siblings - are recalled. All our certificates and related documents are accounted for and kept safely. Today, it is property documents and pension papers.
Health and wealth are two unknowns that can change dramatically over a minute. In both instances, when it happens, it is traumatic and leaves a telltale mark on our mind, body, spirit, and soul.
Mum is an early riser and a confirmed churchgoer, who must start her day outside the home in the church. She, in her younger days, was also a first-day, first-show moviegoer. Others who were laggards would fear meeting Mum, afraid she may reveal the ending. Which she must have done to get such a reputation in the first place. Another first.
One such morning, she took a fateful turn. A road she studiously avoided because of a pack of canines that rested there. That day she saw a familiar face walking ahead. She turned into the self-forbidden path. The other person’s presence was reassuring until she saw the pack of dogs.
The dogs must have
sensed my mom’s discomfort. They confirmed her foreboding by approaching her. One
pawed her, and she fell. By then, the lady in front and a few others around
chased away the dogs and brought Mum home. She hurt her knee badly. She had to
take the rabies shots. Even though it was just a scratch, not a bite.
She has always been of an independent bent of mind. The trauma of that incident did something to her. Her rock-like memory began to show signs of erosion.
This became evident when she misplaced a document and could not recall where she would have lost it. In the scheme of things, it was an unimportant document. A sale agreement, not the sale deed. However, it precipitated the need to secure documents that were with Mum.
It also set us on
a path to discovery. To identify remedial measures should the original be lost.
The answer was certified copies and the issuers of the same. It is, however, not
the same as an original. A document of monetary value can be pledged for a
loan. The absence of the original document would then need to be verified as
not pledged. Caveat emptor, “let
the buyer beware”.
A setback started the process of consolidation and securitisation, which we would have otherwise ignored until ‘death do us part’. A signal to asset owners: get papers in order.
The flip side of this intervention into Mum’s supremacy in all matters custodial is a sense of loss she feels. Being relieved of responsibilities she took great pride in. There is no right way to do it, but doing it was an absolute necessity. It happened with my dad when he was in his late eighties. Now my Mum. Wills have to be written to avoid legal tangles. Bank accounts must have a nominee when there are siblings and rights are shared. Document whereabouts must be traced, scanned, and inventorised for transfer of rights. All was done by being put on the spot.
It is not pleasant, but it must be done. “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” (Mt 25:13). Procrastination in some matters has grave consequences in temporal matters, and more so in the spiritual realm.
- Mathew Anthony
