B is for Belated

belated |biˈlātid| adjective coming or happening later than should have been the case : a belated apology. DERIVATIVES belatedly adverb belatedness noun ORIGIN early 17th cent.(in the sense [overtaken by darkness] ): past participle of obsolete belate [delay] (see be- , late ).


I thought belated was appropriate for my B entry in the ABC along, as I am behind schedule. Belated is something I am a lot of the time. I try so hard to stay on schedule, but then one thing will happen that slows me down slightly and then another thing will happen to push me further off my timeline and before I know it, I'm late again.

It used to frustrate me so much when I was knocked off schedule. In order to stay on time I had lists and precisely timed routes and a mantra I would repeat of "10 minutes for the grocery store, 15 minutes to get to ballet lessons, 20 minutes from there to the high school, and if there's no traffic, I'll be getting dinner started by 7." It was all thought out to the last minute. And woe to anyone who got in my way.

Overtaken by darkness.

I really liked this part of the definition, because that is exactly what it feels like if I get too far behind in my schedule. It happens less often these days as my time is more my own and I am not trying to keep to others' schedules.

But with age comes grace, hopefully, and I find I am more forgiving of my tendency to procrastinate. Now if I can learn to forgive myself for loving chocolate so much.

Next up: An easy scarf that is driving me nuts!