Okay, it was Justin Timberlake who brought sexy back. I am trying to ‘bring the word Priority back’, but damnit, it just didn’t have the same ring to it. If you can get over my bait ‘n switch, I promise you I will try my hardest to make ‘priority’ sexy.
If your house caught fire, your priorities would fall into place, like you were that guy from ‘A Beautiful mind’. 1) Get the kids out. 2) Get the pets out. 3) If enough time get your most treasured item. Pretty straight forward.
Once I shattered my big toe. Despite the agonizing pain, first thing I did was to go home and shave my legs. Also I didn’t go to the emergency room. I knew ER=$2000-5000. Bite down hard and go to Care Now tomorrow=$100. Which tells us: 1) I am thrifty. 2) Shaving my legs is not a priority. 3) Having people think I shave my legs, big priority.
If anyone were to ask “What are your priorities”? We can all come up with the same, socially accepted list: Kids, Husband/Wife, My health, Strong finances, and so on. Not a bad list. However, if our thoughts and actions were to come with an itemized breakdown, like your bank account, would your deposits and withdraws match your priority list? Do we put down electronics, when our kids approach us, signalling that we are totally available to them? Do we carve out a little alone time with our spouse each day? Do we take our vitamins and get a minimum of exercise every day? Do we stick to our budget? Do we act like the things. we claim is a priority, actually is? For most of us, the answer is low mumbled ‘no’, while letting our shameful gaze drift away.
So why are our actions, thoughts and priorities so jumbled? Are we bad and lazy selfish people? Not exactly. I am not a mathematician, but the equation goes something like this:
Poorly programmed subconscious mind, plus Murphy’s law, minus lack of planning, drizzled with Holy sh!t that just happened, times Look something shiny= A mess!
I absolutely hate the, well-meaning, knee-jerk, total cop-out sentence: ” Give yourself a break, you are doing the best you can”. I am pretty darn sure that that is not the case. I am not suggesting we sit around beating ourselves up, but lets stop buying all our own excuses. Yes, there is “only” 24 hours in a day. But it is our 24 to fill ( smiley face, happy dance). Get excited about your life. The mind is a wonderful ting, it acts like a puppy running after a stick. Send out negative words and excuses, they will come back. Send out the desire to find solutions and ways to make life exciting, that is exactly what comes back. It is a practice, most of us are not wired that way, but it is doable. So make a list, review it often, make plans, hang post-its, look past your self-imposed limitations, stop kidding yourself, start loving yourself, hug your children and get your priorities straight.
At the end of the day, there is nothing more sexy and attractive, than vibrant people out there living their lives all out. Let’s be one of them.