I Come First......... At Least Some Of The Time

27 October 2009, Tuesday (8 Zulkaedah)

I am getting my priorities right. My life reflects my deepest held values and beliefs.

So many women live by the mantras "I have to be the best for my husband," "I have to be a perfect mum to my kittos," "I have to keep up," "I have to work harder," "I have to prove my worth."

While many of us thought that we left peer pressure back in our school/college/varsity, it's still very much alive and buzzing in our adult lives.

Many women have one unmistakable priority: get through the day. No doubt! No one would deny the importance of that, but that's simply inadequate. We go through life on autopilot. We hardly ever pause long enough to mull over and reflect how we spend our time and energy.

It's important to find a natural rhythm to our day-to-day life that will create an atmosphere of fulfillment. It's crucial to balance our responsibility to others with responsibility to oneself, obligations with enjoyment, work with play, and activity with rest. It means getting our priorities right.

Hence, my decision to quit from my job, after slogging in the rat race the last 27 years.

It was one of my hardest decisions, but one which I've never once regretted. Since I started working, my dream and fantasy was to retire before I reached fifty.  And amazingly, with God's grace, I managed to do just that.

And now, not only am I able to devote more time for my family, but I have abundance of amazing time for myself. I am learning to balance the wishes and expectations of my husband and children with my own needs and desires. I am holding my priorities sacred, without compromising my family's needs.

I am reorienting my life around what is important to me, and I am comfortable with my decisions. And the most wonderful thing is, I come first, at least some of the time......

And, what is fabulous is that I have time to smell the roses, admire my loved ones, and I even have time to look at the traffic passing by from my bedroom window, and see the birds fly by, high in the sky.