Priorities
Anyway, one of the Facebook pages I started following a few years ago is called Tips for a Stunning Life, and a few days ago the caption in the photo popped up. As a statement, it's pretty accurate, but thinking about it did make me start to think about how I actually prioritise things in my life. And actually, for most of the last 10 - 15 years, I've been pretty low on my own priority list. And that's a harsh realisation to get to.
I've prioritised pretty much everything it lists (with the exception of money, I'm really bad at prioritising money). Why? Mainly because I think that letting people down is a bad thing. That if I agree to do something, then that's what I do. Always. Even if life has changed in the mean time. Even if there are other things that maybe should be prioritised over them ...
I've gone to places I didn't want to go, not gone places I did want to. Not travelled, not met up with friends. Not done random overnight adventures. Not because I didn't want to, but because the ideas, suggestions for going somewhere a bit different, somewhere I (or we) had never been were shut down. So now I can, I am 😊
I sacrificed my career (that I worked hard to get) because others wouldn't sacrifice theirs. But, I'm one of the lucky ones, and I work in a place where the decisions I felt I had to make, are understood and there's active support to get me back where I always wanted to be.
In short, I did everything everyone else expected me to do. But not necessarily the things I wanted or needed to do for me.
Now, you're less likely to find me doing the things that others expect. But they are far more likely to be the things that I want and need to do, for me. For those closest to me.
I'm more likely to say no, to speak my mind. And, after years of putting other people's priorities first, it's not something people expect. But that's just something they're going to have to get used to.
Comments
Post a Comment