Oh, How Priorities Can Change!
Terry L. Mitchell
January 25, 2007
Young people need to realize that many of the things that are so important to them now may not be such a high priority for them when they get older. With the passage of time, those things tend to get replaced with new priorities. Circumstances change (especially after one graduates from high school and has to face the world on his own) and priorities usually change with them.
I'll use myself as an example. From the time I was about 11 until I was 18, I was crazy about sports, especially the NFL. I didn't just like it -- I was in love with it! It became an obsession for me. I can remember sitting in church every Sunday morning during football season and thinking exclusively about the afternoon's gridiron match-ups and wondering if the Redskins would win on that particular day. Church on Sunday was merely part of my pre-game ritual.
Back then, the first round of the NFL playoffs coincided with last-minute preparations for Christmas, as they usually occurred on the last weekend before that holiday. So bad was my obsession that I began to mentally associate Christmas with the NFL playoffs. To this day, when I hear certain Christmas carols, the first thing that comes to mind is the recollection of given playoff games from that era.
Now, as I walk through the isles of my church (the same one I attended back then), the sights, sounds, and smells still remind me of those days when I was so crazy about the NFL. I'm still a big fan of the NFL, but I can't for the life of me understand why it was ever that important to me. Once my sheltered public school days were over, I had to re-focus my attention on getting a post-secondary education and beginning my career. I suppose that once I realized I was solely responsible for making my own living, that specific responsibility shot to the top of priority list and enthusiasm for sports was permanently displaced.
Of course, my priorities had been altered several times in the ensuing years, such as the emphasis I have placed on my health after surviving cancer 11 years ago. In addition, with advent of the Internet, I have developed an interest in writing that just wasn't there before, and have made it a priority in my life. Actually, it might have already existed within me, but I just never developed it because it was too inconvenient before. Now, with any reference item I could ever want just a click away and the ease-of-use that's inherent in blogging, exercising my writing skills is a breeze.
I'll use myself as an example. From the time I was about 11 until I was 18, I was crazy about sports, especially the NFL. I didn't just like it -- I was in love with it! It became an obsession for me. I can remember sitting in church every Sunday morning during football season and thinking exclusively about the afternoon's gridiron match-ups and wondering if the Redskins would win on that particular day. Church on Sunday was merely part of my pre-game ritual.
Back then, the first round of the NFL playoffs coincided with last-minute preparations for Christmas, as they usually occurred on the last weekend before that holiday. So bad was my obsession that I began to mentally associate Christmas with the NFL playoffs. To this day, when I hear certain Christmas carols, the first thing that comes to mind is the recollection of given playoff games from that era.
Now, as I walk through the isles of my church (the same one I attended back then), the sights, sounds, and smells still remind me of those days when I was so crazy about the NFL. I'm still a big fan of the NFL, but I can't for the life of me understand why it was ever that important to me. Once my sheltered public school days were over, I had to re-focus my attention on getting a post-secondary education and beginning my career. I suppose that once I realized I was solely responsible for making my own living, that specific responsibility shot to the top of priority list and enthusiasm for sports was permanently displaced.
Of course, my priorities had been altered several times in the ensuing years, such as the emphasis I have placed on my health after surviving cancer 11 years ago. In addition, with advent of the Internet, I have developed an interest in writing that just wasn't there before, and have made it a priority in my life. Actually, it might have already existed within me, but I just never developed it because it was too inconvenient before. Now, with any reference item I could ever want just a click away and the ease-of-use that's inherent in blogging, exercising my writing skills is a breeze.
Print
Email
