Hi everyone, welcome back to Podcast and Chill.
I'm Leo.
And I'm Gwen.
How is everyone today?
I hope you're all doing great.
Uh, Gwen, can I admit something?
Oh, should I be worried?
Nah, yesterday I got home from work and guess what I saw?
The dirty dishes I left in the sink since morning.
Oh no, don't tell me…
I stood there, looked at them, and told myself, I'll wash them after my shower.
Hmm.
Let me guess.
You didn't?
Oh, Gwen.
Yeah, I didn't.
I went to bed like the dishes were gone.
Ha, I knew it.
But hey, we've all been there, right?
Even you?
Yes.
Even me.
I mean, we always think we have time.
I'll do it tomorrow later.
Well yeah, it sounds okay at first, no big deal, and that's what we're talking about today procrastination.
Now, some of our listeners might not know this word.
Procrastination means waiting to do something instead of doing it now.
Like your dishes, they slowly take away our time, and sometimes even more than that.
Wait more than just time.
Yes.
And today we won't just talk about it.
We'll listen to a story.
A story?
I love stories.
This is a special story.
It's about a boy named Peter and what happened when he thought he had more time.
Ooh, sounds interesting.
Tell me more.
It's a story I think we can all learn from.
And that's why we have a special guest to tell it.
You all know him.
Please welcome back our friend Jake.
Hi, Leo.
Hi, Gwen.
Hi, everyone listening.
I'm so happy to be here with you all again.
Today, I want to share a story that's very close to my heart.
It's about a boy named Peter and his grandfather.
Peter was eight years old.
He had brown hair, bright eyes, and a big smile.
Peter loved to play.
He loved running outside with his friends, climbing trees, and playing football.
Peter's parents loved him very much.
They lived in a small house with a beautiful garden.
His mother was kind and gentle.
His father worked hard but always played with Peter on weekends.
But Peter's grandfather was the most special person.
Everyone called him Grandpa.
Grandpa lived with them.
He had white hair, warm brown eyes, and soft strong hands.
Every evening, Grandpa sat in his big chair by the window and Peter sat on the floor next to him.
Grandpa told Peter stories about when he was young, stories about brave people, about life, love and being kind.
Peter loved these moments.
He loved how Grandpa's eyes shined when he talked about the old days.
But Grandpa always told Peter one special thing.
Grandpa would look at him and say, Don't wait too long to do good things.
Time moves very fast.
Once it's gone, you can't get it back.
Peter would nod and smile.
But honestly, Peter didn't really understand these words.
He was just a child.
He thought there was always time, always tomorrow, always later.
But one Saturday morning everything changed.
Peter woke up and went downstairs for breakfast.
In the kitchen his parents looked worried.
Grandpa was there but he looked different.
He was breathing slowly.
His hand was shaking.
Peter's mother saw him and said, Peter, Grandpa is not feeling well today.
He needs his pill.
Can you go to the shop and get it?
She gave Peter money and a paper with the pill name.
Peter looked at Grandpa and said, Don't worry, Grandpa.
I will go now.
I will be fast.
Peter went outside and saw his best friend Tom with a football.
Tom shouted, Peter, come play with us.
We are going to the park.
Peter looked at the paper in his hand.
Then he looked at Tom and the other children.
They were all smiling and calling his name.
Peter thought to himself, The shop is open all day.
I can go later.
I will only play for 30 minutes.
It will be okay.
So Peter went to play with his friends.
They played football in the park.
They played and played.
Everyone was happy.
After football, Tom said, let's get ice cream.
So they all went to the ice cream shop.
They ate ice cream and talked about school and games.
Peter was having so much fun.
He forgot about everything else.
He just enjoyed being with his friends.
Then Peter saw the clock.
His heart stopped.
Three hours had passed.
Three hours.
The pill, Grandpa!
Peter ran.
He ran very fast.
His heart was beating hard.
He was scared.
He got to the shop.
He was breathing fast.
He gave the paper to the shop person.
The person got the medicine.
It took some time but it felt like forever.
Finally, Peter took the pill and ran home.
He ran all the way home.
His legs and chest hurt but he didn't stop.
At home, it was very quiet.
No sounds.
No smells from cooking.
Nothing.
He walked into the living room.
His mother was sitting on the floor, crying.
His father was next to her, holding her.
His father's eyes were red, too.
And Grandpa's chair was empty.
Peter's hand started to shake.
The pill bag fell on the floor.
His mother looked up.
She saw Peter.
She said, Peter, Grandpa, he is gone.
Peter couldn't breathe.
He couldn't think.
He said quietly, No, no, I have the pill right here.
Grandpa just needs to take it.
But he was too late.
His father stood up and walked to Peter.
He put his hand on Peter's shoulder.
Peter, Grandpa's heart was very old and weak.
The doctor said the pill might not help.
But Peter didn't listen.
He kept thinking, If I went right away, if I didn't stop to play, if I did what Mom asked.
Peter turned and ran outside.
He ran to the big apple tree in the garden, the tree that Grandpa had planted when Peter was born.
Grandpa always said, You and this tree will grow together.
Peter sat under that tree and he cried.
He cried a lot.
He said to himself again and again, It's my fault.
It's all my fault.
If I went right away, if I didn't play football.
After some time, Peter's mother came outside.
She sat down next to him under the tree.
She was crying too, but she put her arm around Peter.
Peter looked at her with tears running down his face.
He said, Mom, it's my fault.
If I bought the pill first, he would still be here.
His mother said softly, Peter, listen.
Grandpa was very, very sick.
The doctor said this morning that Grandpa's heart was too weak.
Even if you came back in ten minutes, it would not change anything.
Grandpa died peacefully, just a few minutes after you left.
Peter shook his head.
He couldn't believe it.
But Mom, maybe if I ran to the shop first, maybe if I didn't waste three hours, maybe I could have talked to him one more time.
His mother held Peter tighter.
Grandpa loved you so much, Peter, more than anything.
Now the important thing is what you learn from this.
Grandpa would not want you to be sad forever.
He would want you to learn and be a better person.
That night, Peter was in bed, but he couldn't sleep.
He heard Grandpa's words.
Don't wait too long to do good things.
Time moves very fast.
Now Peter understood.
Now it was too late, but he finally understood.
Every time we say later, we might lose something important forever.
Every time we wait, we take a risk, the risk that later may not come.
The next days were hard for Peter.
The house felt empty without Grandpa's stories.
The big chair by the window sat there, lonely.
But something changed in Peter, something deep inside him.
He didn't want to waste time.
He didn't want to say later anymore.
When his mother asked for help, he helped immediately.
When his teacher gave homework, he did it the same day.
If someone needed help, he helped them right away.
He never let anyone ask him twice.
He never said maybe tomorrow.
Because he learned that tomorrow is not promised.
Tomorrow might be too late.
Weeks passed.
Months passed.
Years passed.
Peter grew up.
He went to middle school, then high school.
He grew taller.
But he never forgot that day.
He never forgot the lesson.
Every Sunday, Peter went to the garden.
He gave water to the apple tree.
The tree was now big and strong.
It had beautiful apples every autumn.
Peter stood under the tree, looked at the sky, and talked to Grandpa.
He said, Grandpa, I learned your lesson.
It was hard, but I learned it.
I will never wait again.
I promise you I'll do good things today, not tomorrow.
I'll help people today, not next week.
I'll tell people I love them today, not someday.
And in his heart, Peter felt that Grandpa was smiling.
He was proud of the boy who learned to use his time well.
Proud that he understood later can be too late.
Peter often thought, what if I can go back to that Saturday?
What if I can try again?
But life doesn't work like that.
We can't go back.
We can only learn from our mistakes and try to be better.
And that's the story of Peter.
A story about a boy who learned a very hard lesson.
Thank you for listening.
I hope it helps you think about the things you keep waiting to do.
Because sometimes, later never comes.
Back to you, Gwen and Leo.
Jake.
Wow.
Thank you for that story.
I...
I need a second.
That was very powerful, Jake.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
Gwen, I'm not going to lie.
I'm trying not to cry right now.
Oh.
It's okay, Leo.
Peter's story really reminds us how short life can be.
Yeah.
What makes it sad is Peter wasn't a bad kid.
He just wanted to play with his friends.
Exactly.
He wasn't lazy or bad.
He was just being a normal kid.
But life doesn't always care about our reasons.
Peter didn't want to do anything wrong.
But that one small choice still caused a big problem.
You're saying we never know which small choice will be the important one?
Yes, Leo, that's the point.
That's why we should care about every choice we make.
But Gwen, Peter's mom, said that Even if he had gone right away, Grandpa might still have passed.
So, was it really Peter's fault?
Well, that's a very good question.
And I think the answer is, it's not about blame.
It's about doing the right thing.
Hmm, can you explain?
Blame is about the past.
Doing the right thing is looking at what we can do now.
Peter couldn't change what happened. but he could change how he lived after that.
Oh, so the lesson isn't Peter is bad.
The lesson is don't wait to do important things.
Yeah, because we never know if we'll have another chance.
That's scary.
But how do we know what's important and what's not?
Like we never know until someone says it to us.
You're not wrong.
It's not always easy to know, but if it's something kind, something that helps or shows love, it's important.
Always.
Right, but we can't do everything right away.
Sometimes we're busy or tired.
True, but we often forget.
Procrastination isn't just about ourselves.
Every moment we wait, Chances disappear and trust can be broken.
That's different from resting.
Taking a break is fine, but avoiding what we should do?
That's what Peter did.
So procrastination isn't just doing later.
It's a choice that can make us lose a chance.
It's more like we should be more honest with ourselves?
Correct.
So ask yourself...
Do I really need a break, or am I just escaping this?
Hmm.
Yeah.
And if it's something that matters to someone we love, we should do it right away.
That's right.
People we love won't be here forever.
You know, I keep telling my mom, I'll call you later, or I'll visit next week.
But what if there is no next week? then you'd wish you had called her today.
That's the fear the story gives us.
And it's a good fear.
It can wake us up and make us better.
Good fear, huh?
Like we keep avoiding things that really matter until life reminds us too late.
Uh-huh.
Every time we say I'll help them next time I'll tell them I love them later, or I'll say sorry tomorrow.
We take a small risk that tomorrow won't come.
And every time we should ask ourselves, what if tomorrow is too late?
Oh, I'm starting to understand something.
Procrastination isn't just about being lazy or wasting time.
Then what is it about?
It's kind of running away from what we should do.
Like when we say, I'll do it later, we're really saying, I don't want to do this right now.
Yes.
And when we do that, other people can get hurt too.
Like Peter's grandpa.
Yeah, waiting might seem small, but sometimes it costs something we can never get back.
So what's the real lesson here, Gwen?
Three things.
First, time is special.
We don't have forever.
Second, every choice, even small ones, affects others, not just ourselves.
And third?
Waiting too long can make us lose what matters most.
At school, we miss chances to learn and improve.
At work, we can lose trust, make mistakes, or miss chances.
Or in life, we lose moments with people we love.
It hurts, but it's true.
It reminds me of a quote.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.
Oh, I like that.
We can't change yesterday, but we can change today.
After hearing Peter's story, I don't think I'll look at procrastination the same way again.
Good.
That means the story did its job.
I keep thinking about all the things I said I'd do later.
Calling my mom, saying sorry to my sister for the fight we had, or starting that project I've been planning for months.
Then what's stopping you?
Nothing really.
Just excuses.
I'll do it when I have more time or I'll do it when I'm in a better mood.
Then start today.
Peter thought he had more time too, but he didn't.
Yeah, we all think we have time until we don't.
Exactly.
So go hug your parents, call someone you miss, say sorry, say thank you.
Don't wait.
I will.
As soon as we finish recording.
And I hope everyone listening feels the same way.
Whatever it is, doing it now, not later, can make a huge difference.
Or else it might be too late.
Let me tell you this clearly.
Peter's story shows us that waiting is not just about losing time.
It is about not doing what we need to do.
And sometimes one small later can make us lose something important forever.
So, please do this for us.
Today, not tomorrow.
Do one thing you said you would do later.
It doesn't have to be big.
Just one thing.
Call your family.
Clean your room.
Say thank you to someone.
It doesn't need to be perfect.
You just need to do it now.
Try to do the right thing.
If you don't do what you should today, Life will teach you tomorrow.
And sometimes, it hurts.
Really.
We don't want you to learn this lesson like Peter did, so please don't say later.
If Peter's story made you feel something, please share your thoughts with us.
And if you want Jake to come back and tell us more stories, let us know.
Leave a comment.
Thank you for being with us on Podcast and Chill today.
Yeah, seriously, thank you.
This was a heavy episode, but I thought it was important.
Remember to like, share, and follow us so you don't miss our next episode.
I'm Leo.
And I'm Gwen.
See you next time!
