Time and Priorities

I have been thinking lately about how quickly time flies and how often I don’t seem able to do the things I really want to do. The question is then: What are my priorities? What I choose to do or not do is the truest indication of my priorities. How I spend my time is the best gauge of what is important to me. So, what is important to me?

I guess based on my choices, what I really want to do isn’t as important to me as what I feel I should do. I should do the laundry, make the dinner, pay the bills. I want to write more frequently, read good books, spend more one-on-one time with friends and family.  So, it seems most often the “shoulds” win the battle for my time and energy. But are they really the most important activities? If I let those activities slide and do what I want to do will I feel more like I am accomplishing something valuable and important? Or will I feel guilty as I watch the mundane responsibilities, the necessary stuff, snowball into a mound of unfinished work?

I suppose the trick is to do a better job of finding the balance between the “want-tos” and the “have-tos”. They will both always be calling for my attention. If I don’t do the necessary tasks of life I end up with a big mess in my house and personal affairs. Neglect in that area is noticeable to anyone. If I don’t do the other things there is still a mess of sorts, but it’s on the inside of me and no one else knows about it.

There will always be business to keep in order, necessary tasks calling for my attention. Yet, there is another call as well. Perhaps it’s even a higher call: the call to feed the soul, to explore and fulfill the purpose for which I was created. I am not just referring to a need for rest, although rest is important. Feeding the soul is about nurturing those inner spaces. Spaces that require beauty and inspiration. Spaces that say, “This is what I was made for.” Spaces that aren’t satisfied by the completion of tasks, so much as the exploration of creativity and ideas.  Spaces that are only satisfied in the intangible and spiritual realms. 

We were each created with a need to feed the soul. How we satisfy the soul is as unique as our fingerprint. As time ticks by I want to choose to keep the inner spaces just as much a priority as the outer spaces of my life. How I spend my time will tell the story of my choices.