Priorities

The night was peaceful and the last train had just left the station. As I looked out of the window from my study room, the sight of the empty street was calm. An emptied bus-stop, a stray dog resting beside the pavement and the well-lighted road cleared of vehicles. For a moment, the peace was interrupted when a young chap on his e-scooter, rode past blasting the latest techno-pop music. I did not notice it was 1.47am. I was tired but my mind was still awake.

The silence of a late night signifies a day done for busy executives and that another day of earning is secure at least for now. It is the time when we get to put down our heavy corporate baggage while wiping off the sweat after undressing our corporate self. Looking through the long list of unread emails and text messages, with the mind already planning on the list of priority the next day. With tired eyes as I clicked the shut-down icon on my desktop, I realised that I have not spoken for awhile to a long-forgotten friend, myself. The time alone to read, think and reflect.

Working endlessly to fulfil the requirement of work and personal life, I have rigorously strived to meet the expectation of others but at the expense of missing out several important priorities.

The priority to meet a special friend who once cared for me when no one else did. The priority to be back in contributing to the less privileged, having gone through some personal hardship myself in the past. The priority to spend sufficient quality time with the family without checking on the phone for the number of LIKEs in my social media posts. Or the priority to read a new book that is left on the shelve untouched for months, collecting dust. I have made the mistake of prioritising my schedule instead of scheduling my priorities and that the things that are important, are rarely included in my task list.

So often we exhaust ourselves in pursuing endless wants, we forgot about making time and having space on the importance: simple pleasure in life.

I begin to reflect that our lives are short and time can never enough for everyone until we make it part of our schedule. Priorities as such should be blocked in our calendar before allowing our daily bulk of activities to swallow our lives.

At times, I imagine what our fathers and forefathers did when they were once like us, fulfilling commitment to bring back the bacon, minus the convenience of infrastructure and technology we enjoy now. What were their priorities back then? Were they leading happier lives as they could find simpler pleasure with less despite surrounded by harsher condition? Or are we unhappier now despite having more? 

It is essential to pull ourselves out of our busy schedule, reflect and start scheduling important priorities to ensure that these are included in our daily or weekly tasks. And yes, practise saying NO when you need to have that little time to yourself.

I could only conclude for now that small pleasures remain small until we prioritise and give them enough attention. And when you set priority for yourself, you are in a much better position to lead a purposeful life.

“The most important thing in life is knowing the most important things in life.” - David F. Jakielo

Ken is a human resource professional who values learning and enjoys working with people from all walks of life. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Management & HRM) from Curtin University of Technology and has been practising HR since 2004. An introvert by nature, who loves reading and writing.