It's been a while since my last post but it takes time to truly open one's eyes and see everything in one's life from all angles. There are responsibilities, a lot has been created and expanded upon, my interests are many, and there are things I haven't done yet that I would like to do.
Looking carefully, I see many choices. Deciding isn't easy; I want to go the right way and make my remaining years count. When one is young there seems to be endless time to backtrack if the road you're walking turns out to be a dead end - plenty of time to explore choices, try different things, see how they work out. But now I feel an urgency to choose carefully.
The words that keep coming to me are my Dad's: "Family first".
Thinking of those two simple words and looking at what I do, I realize that my family is often not first, second, or tenth. Even considering that I'm part of my family and that things I do for me also count, I realize how much energy I give to others. And although I don't expect anything in return, I can't help but notice that not much is given back. What goes around comes around, right? But it isn't. Which reminds me of Racoon's lessons about giving to family and the source of your strength, then to others with what's left. And also, to not waste energy giving to those who only take.
I'm not necessary talking about only people here - where you put your attention - what you read, support, worry about, explore - that is a type of giving too. I'm thinking about emails, links people send, news stories, facebook, television, other people's causes and problems, global problems...information abounds all around us. And everyone wants you to read their stuff, their views, and for you to support them.
But what is the value of all this? How does it apply to our own lives and goals specifically? Well, some of it is informative and helpful, but most is not. Most is distracting and steals time away from what we really want to focus on, if we allow it to.
Would it not be better to direct our extra energy towards listening to what Spirit and our own hearts are trying to tell us?
A long time ago I read a book by Steven Covey titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It was a very good book. One of his suggestions was for us to work within our circle of concern, which is ourselves and our families, then expand from there. I have a lot to think about for sure as far as what I would like to eliminate from my life and will continue to work with Alligator to simplify things so I can focus on what truly matters to me. Many thanks to Alligator for the lessons!
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