Priorities vs time

I recently read an article on “Time versus Priority”.  Here is an excerpt:

The argument goes like this: “I spend most of my time at work, so it must be the highest priority in my life, right?”

Wrong!

Your work may very well be the highest priority in your life, but don’t assume that it is just because you spend a lot of time there.

It’s a fact of life that, in a modern society, we must work in order to earn the money we need to pay for the rest of our life. But, if our work does not satisfy our values, then it is clearly not the highest priority in our life.

Don’t make the mistake of equating time with priority.

While I fully accept the above argument – the last line still has me arguing a bit.  I would like to express the inverse.  Priority vs time.

If something is really a priority in your life,  if it involves something or someone who is very important to you, – you will find the time to spend.

To me, if someone uses the argument ” I just don’t have the time”  I immediately have the assumption that it was just not a priority for them. Am I wrong?  I don’t think so…..

To me it’s all about living deliberately – not accidentally.  It’s about knowing where you want to go, what you want to do, and why you want to do it.  It takes time, experience and maturity to get to this point. It’s about spending time with the people you want to be with, doing projects that are important to you and your family, and not wasting time and energy on things that are not important to you.  It sounds easy, but initially, it is a difficult balancing act. Once you get the hang of it though, it is one of the most liberating feelings and your life changes.  You learn to be happy from the inside and you spend much more time in the moment.

The people you spend your time with don’t have to have the same priorities as you do, but they must, in some way, be synchronizable. (Is there such a word?)

There will always be times where we  have to do things that are not a priority to us, things that may interfere with our priority listing.  At times like these we need to communicate with the important people in our lives and let them know sincerely that they are still important.

In matters of love and relationships, this is a very important point.  If someone wants to spend time with you and is really interested in you – no matter how busy they are, they will make the time to be with you, and if they can’t, they will communicate with you to ensure that you don’t get the wrong idea.  They will take time to get to know you.  They will be interested in what you think and feel. If they don’t – walk away because they “are just not that into you”

Remember –

• it takes less than a minute to send a text message.
• it takes seconds to say “I love you.”
• a smile says a thousand words.
• a well-timed phone call of a few minutes can save the world.

If you are a priority in someone else’s life, they will find the time to be with you, communicate with you, and get to know you.

That’s just how it is.

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