“Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.” ~ Unknown
Most of us can probably say that we are busy people. Between work, family obligations, and friends, there are things that occupy most of our time each day. Often, we find ourselves overextended because we take on too many jobs or make too many promises. What usually happens at those times is that we short the one person that should have our complete attention: ourselves.
We need to begin the day taking care of ourselves. A good breakfast, time to reflect upon the needs of the day, and time to pray are all important ways to begin each day. If we do not do that, we will find ourselves fatigued, stressed, and/or distracted. We might think that we are getting a jump start on more important things; but, the fact of the matter is that, if we do not take care of ourselves first, we will be unable to meet all the demands of our day.
It is not considered selfish to take care of ourselves first if we are doing so in order to help everyone else we encounter. If we are taking care of ourselves at the expense of others, that would be wrong. But, in order to give others our undivided attention, we need to make sure that we are in top form ourselves.
Even Jesus did that. He told His followers the importance of communing with God and He often went off by Himself to pray. Were there people waiting for Him? Yes. Were there people in need? Yes. Did He need to go off first to ground Himself in the love of His Father? Yes.
We often say, “What would Jesus do?” Well, in this case, we know exactly what He would do. He would go off to pray and then come back and give His undivided attention to all those in need. As He did, so should we do. “Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.”
FAITH ACTION: Make sure that you take care of your emotional, physical, and spiritual needs this day so as to be in top form to help others.