When I walk down the hallway to my mom’s cottage in her nursing home I have 2 choices.
I can go right to the Pheasant Run cottage and see my Aunt Joy.
Or, I can go left to the Grandview Cottage and see my mom.
Both are great choices. I love both women very much.
But, I always go left
You might think, “Well, of course you’d go left. It’s your mom.”
If you are my friend on Facebook then you know what my mom is like. She is a role model on how to grow old with grace and faith. She gives the most remarkable wisdom which I share so others can be blessed, too. She is a very loving person to visit.
That’s not the only reason I go left. My mom is my priority. I see so many residents who are not their family’s priority and it is heartbreaking.
Every day we have choices. Usually, far more than 2 doors.
Do you know your priority? Did you notice I didn’t say priorities?
In Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism, he shares that the word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It meant the very first or prior thing. It was singular. It stayed singular for the next 500 years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow, we would now be able to have multiple ‘first’ things. (Italics are quotes from his book on page 16.)
I found this to be fascinating.
Do you ever think about what your priority is? Having a priority doesn’t mean we don’t care about a lot of people and things we need to do. When we choose our priority, we live true to who we are. We aren’t allowing others to make the choice for us.
Can you choose one door?