Priorities: Are You Living Yours?Written by Anthony Mullins
In Charles Dickens classic, “The Christmas Story”, Scrooge is given opportunity to examine his life and his priorities before it is too late. Upon being shown his grave by ghost of Christmas Future, he asks “Spirit, are these instances of things that will be or are they of things that might be? Is it too late for me?” How long has it been since you have examined your life and its direction? When day comes that you leave this earth, how will you be remembered?Have you ever noticed that once people have something life-changing take place in their lives, an illness, death or tragedy, how quickly their priorities change? It is amazing how instantaneously things that were so important yesterday, fail to cross their radar screens today. Why is that? It is simple really. We are instantly reminded of our mortality. For a brief moment, we are forced to stop and really take stock of our lives. Unfortunately for many of us, we don’t like what we see. These experiences cause a momentary shift in our priorities and how we view things that have meaning in our lives. Having defeating or misplaced priorities is easy. Putting them in right place is hard and learning how to maintain them in their places is an even greater challenge. I would like to share with you a few of my secrets to create and maintain a life of priorities. Let me speak from personal experience. I was a very successful business manager that truly believed that my job was my identity. I made certain that no one could question my loyalty and commitment to my job and its results. I unintentionally made certain that my entire family doubted my commitment to them and family’s success. They were in last place when it came to my priorities. There will be plenty of time later to foster family, I thought. They love me and will wait for me. I had a list of excuses as to why I needed to be at work. I had an adequate size staff but to hear me tell it, place would burn down were I not there. So, off to work I went. I needed a priority shift. It wasn’t until I found myself in back of an ambulance on verge of a stroke and a paramedic standing over me injecting me with drugs to stop my heart, that I took a real survey of my life. Do yourself and those around you a favor; take a hard look at your life and what really matters, while you can. I have always I had best of intentions, just not best planning. Many very accomplished people have said that ideas don’t fail, plans fail. I think we can relate this to our lives as well. It’s not that we are failures in our lives, our planning or priorities are misplaced. We need to plan out our priorities and set a purposeful course for our lives. Along with our own priorities, we must also recognize and respect priorities of our spouse and those around us. We are not living on a deserted island. Do not try to impose your priorities onto others. It is always best to try to work closely others and with your family on family priorities. Either in a professional or personal environment, everyone has their own priorities. Unfortunately, as hard as we try, we can impose our priorities on others. From board room to dining room everyone has priorities.
| | Are You Afraid of Change?Written by Brian Maloney
Change, no matter how you cut it, can certainly be a daunting task. There are so many ways to change; your image, attitude, environment, perceptions, addictions, and how you treat others. However, let’s explore reasons for change. Firstly, aspects in your life that negatively affect self progression, whether put upon yourself or not, scream loudest to be changed. Many times guarded vaults inside ourselves mask this need for change, due to false pride, or mere misperception of how change can improve our quality of life. As a result, a vicious cycle of negativity will hover if these changes fail to be made. So then, how do we know when to prioritize a needful change so that it can be properly made? No matter how blind one can get, signs from friends and family, or negative reactions to your conduct by others can definitely be most telling, and that’s where you would start. This recognition is a crucial beginning point, because if you can’t recognize and then admit, then you will always be in denial of your infractions. For example: If you are a drug addict or any type of addict for that matter, only way you are going to get clean of that chemical is not by force from state or your family, but from within. This introspection, though through a haze of chemicals or denial is tough, cannot be overstated in its importance. Although, when done with logic and perspective, it can be utterly empowering. How does someone muster up enough will to make a critical change?
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