I was talking with a colleague today about my gratitude meditation. She said, "I don't have time for meditation." I said , "It's not about time: it's about priorities."
This is a lesson I learned too well this weekend. I had almost finished with my preparations for The Game Called Life when the government shutdown ended on October 17. "One more day," I'd said, "and I would have been finished." So close, but in 40 days I hadn't made finishing the book a priority. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, by grace, all the families that I usually spend holidays with were away. Ah, I thought, this is my chance.
I wanted to start day with my gratitude meditation; then a walk seemed in order since it was a beautiful, if crisp, day. I am a cook; I couldn't allow this food holiday to pass without cooking and, of course, eating. Then, I watched a couple movies that I can't even recall now. By that time, I wrote my blog and fell into bed. Oops! No time for The Game Called Life. It's not about time: it's about priorities.
That evening after I brushed my teeth, I took a long look into the mirror. Kay, where are your priorities? Well, it is clear that they hadn't been with The Game Called Life.
Saturday morning I got up, got cleaned up, and before I would let myself do anything, I edited. I am truly embarrassed to say that in under three hours, I had the manuscript marked and changes made to the electronic copy. Three hours! In 40 days I hadn't made time for a three-hour task. Saturday I lived my priorities.
Living with intention is simply knowing what is important and putting it first, every single day. By the magnitude of a thousand small decisions, we create our lives. When we live with intention, our decisions are conscious ones, rather than ones made mindlessly by default, as I'd been doing frittering away time over the last 40 days.
You see, my colleague really was living intentionally. She has aging parents that she cares for and teen and young adult children. At this stage in her life, they are her priorities. Living with intention is living our priorities, and that is exactly what she is doing.
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It's a shame we don't spend more time gaining insight into what our priorities truly are. When you don't where you're going, any road will do, as the saying goes. Perhaps the current priority may not be our ideal, but if we acknowledge it for the fact that it is a current priority, instead of wishing it were something else, we can let go of some of the stress. Good for you, Kay, in getting that editing done.
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