The Pain Will Prioritize For You

The Pain Will Prioritize For You

I see it a lot in the addictions community. And every now and again I see it in my practice. It's the person who is never on time, or that never shows for their appointment. In the addictions field, this is pretty common, for many are not invested in their recovery. But what about the person who "self pays" for a program? They do the research, pay for the program, make the first appointment and then ghost you. 

When you're not a priority, you play a game with yourself. I like to equate this mentality to those who jump on the new years resolution bandwagon. Come the first of January, they sign up for the gym, start a diet, quit smoking and any other thing that they are not happy with. Well intentioned, they jump head first into it. While they maybe strong out of the gate, by mid to end January, they are right back to where they started. And why is this? It can be for many reasons, but I bring it back to not being a priority. 

When you're not a priority, you're not taking care of yourself, and it shows via your actions. So you set up an action plan to start making corrections, because you want better for yourself. That's the easy part. But just as late January rolls around, you trick yourself into believing that your life wasn't so bad, or off course, so you revert back to old ways. Because old ways are easy, while change demands discipline. And discipline requires work. And when we're not a priority, the work won't get done.

"The usual path to become a priority is more often than not pain."

So what is a priority? Well, a priority is something you place value on. It is something seen as important. Most of us would see a job as a priority, because we need money to survive. So the trade off is hours for dollars. But what happens when we don't see ourselves as a priority? We may engage in a less than desirable relationship. We may not keep the healthiest of diets. We may drink to excess, smoke or do drugs. There are countless ways that show we are not a priority. And the usual path to become a priority is more often than not pain. You see pain often prioritizes things for us. Not always. But for most of us it does. 

You take that undesirable relationship that you're in, and you begin to question all of those arguments. Or worse, you come to the realization that the abuse is too much to handle. Or, the years of reckless eating has you 60 pounds overweight, siting in the doctors office listening to them tell you that you have high cholesterol and diabetes. And then we find ourselves in a AA/NA meeting not because the drinking and drug use was more than recreational, but because a daily habit. This is what not being a priority looks like.  

Being a priority doesn't mean you can't have fun. Not does it mean that you will be exempt from bad things happening to you. But what it does mean is that your health {both mental and physical} comes first. And because it does, you are disciplined when it comes to it. You show yourself the very respect needed to ensure your worth.

So affirm it today. Take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself. Because if you don't. More than likely, the pain will prioritize for you. 

Anthony White

Academic Student - Back in School!

6 年

A deep and meaningful post, Vance. I especially love the way you bridge the concepts of being a priority and how that ties in to self-respect and appreciation. Thank you for the inspiring content!

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Vance G. Larson CHt的更多文章

  • New Years Resurrection

    New Years Resurrection

    Everyone is talking about New Years resolutions. Why? Because you feel a little more upbeat and optimistic than usual?…

  • Life Of An Outreach Worker

    Life Of An Outreach Worker

    I walked out of my office today, and went to my car. I literally said out loud,” It’s too cold to be doing outreach.

  • The Report Card

    The Report Card

    I was meditating on death, as I do often. I think because I have seen so much of it over the past 39 years working in…

  • The Decision

    The Decision

    So many of us make a decision when we are not in top form. This often times has disastrous consequences.

  • Dream It

    Dream It

    Dream it. Without delay.

  • Battling Bullshit

    Battling Bullshit

    Here's the deal. Most of us battle bullshit on a daily basis.

  • Waiting To Be Written

    Waiting To Be Written

    So, I keep a journal of thoughts and quotes that come off the cuff. To date, I have 343 stories that I am working on.

  • Some Times A Sandwich

    Some Times A Sandwich

    Some times a sandwich. I've been doing street outreach on and off for 38 years.

  • One

    One

    One. That’s it.

    1 条评论
  • The Purpose Of Pain

    The Purpose Of Pain

    I would never wish anyone pain. In fact, I don’t even speak of karma.

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了