Different Priorities

People are kind of ridiculous, and I don’t mean anyone in particular really, just people. In general. All of us.

There are very few people who can recognize and accept the fact that other people are different. They have different morals, different focuses, different goals and ambitions. What’s important to one person may not be important to another.

I find that when something is of high importance to me and not to someone else, that the solution – instead of getting all angry that the other person doesn’t find it as important, is to simply accept that our priorities are different and either let it go or do it myself if the situation calls for it.

I cannot waste my energy being worried or angry about how someone does or doesn’t do something. Different strokes for different folks, you know? I need to focus on what’s in front of me. I need to prioritize things the way that I need to prioritize them. That doesn’t mean my focus is wrong, it’s just…different.

I’m not a perfect person. I have low energy on a good day. I struggle with chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Sometimes, things slide. I’m a forgetful person, walking around in a fog of my own pain and the things that are important to me. My sons, my husband, our family. I have to let certain things go to preserve my diminishing energy sometimes, and that’s okay. I’m trying to learn how to deal with that, you know? The guilt of letting something slide, especially when someone else doesn’t agree with the fact that I’ve let it slide.

At the end of the day, I ask myself these questions:
1) Did my sons feel loved today?
2) Is everybody fed?
3) Did I do the best that I could have today?

If the answers as yes (and they usually always are), then I consider it a successful day and I try to ignore focusing on the things I didn’t and couldn’t get around to. Like the clean laundry that didn’t get folded or put away, the recycling that I forgot to drag to the curb, or the few dishes I left to “soak” overnight in the sink.

But sometimes, people forget that everyone else has these different lists of priorities. Some people are able to accomplish all that I can and do in a day, and then some. Some people have different responsibilities and their results are…different.

So, stop judging people for doing things differently and get over it. The key to a happier life is letting go of negativity, so don’t create it unnecessarily by stressing about what other people are or are not doing.