Getting Things In the Right Order

I've been thinking of the greatest realizations I've come to this year.  One of them is:  Take Care of Things in the Right Order.

It's quite tempting, isn't it, to be so passionate that we go out and serve the World around us....and we often do so to the extent that we become completely depleted.  Not to mention, we can become so focused on using our gifts to serve the outside World that we forget to offer our gifts first and foremost to those closest to us.

I admit it.  I've been guilty of this.  I'm such a passionate mentor and dedicated agent of positive change that it is easiest for me to pour all my time and energy into these efforts.

Yet, one day this year, my husband came to speak truth to me:

"Trish, you are exhausting yourself to the point that you have very little left for us at home."

Woa. That message stopped me fully in my tracks.

My husband has this way of observing me and my patterns...and then, when it's time, he delivers one of those poignant truths to me that cuts through me and brings me out of my unconscious fog to a new awareness.  (I do the same for him.  Actually, that is one of the best parts of our relationship--to have the level of deep love and comfort that we can actually speak the truth to one another as we grow into our best selves.)

So, I stepped back to look at myself.  He was RIGHT.  I had gotten a bit out of synch with my deeper priorities.

I was personally depleted.  Why would I be offering the energy I had to others when I wasn't fully taking care of me?

And, I was getting so focused on offering service to the World, that I was overlooking opportunities to invest all that I needed into the people I cared about most:  my husband and my 3 amazing daughters.

I had new awareness and I created a motto that I now live by:  Do things in the right order.

A move away from Deficit Living is essential now for me...and for all agents of positive change.  It is actually SELFISH to serve others to the point of exhaustion.  Yep, you did hear me right.  Here's why:  You cheat yourself out of enjoying life AND you cheat others out of getting the BEST of your gifts.

There is a NEW PARADIGM for Service -- one that fosters well-being, a stable home and allows you to bless the World through service too.

The key is to get things in the right order:
For me, here is the right order:

1. Thriving Self:  First, I must be in full alignment with my Source.  I must feed my spirit and nurture my soul.  I must make sure my physical body is well so that I am charged up and feel healthy as I walk my daily journey.

2. Thriving Intimate Relationship:  I choose to ensure that my relationship with my partner in purpose, my husband David, is at it's greatest harmony and synchronization.

3.  Thriving Home:  I choose to devote my gifts to raising my 3 daughters into empowered, whole, healthy change agents that are happy and thriving.

THEN........

4.  Thriving Service to Humanity:  From the overflow of my personal well-being and from the stability of my joyful home, offer service to the World.

Sometimes our intention to serve the world with our gifts causes us to become unaware of other aspects of our lives that are important too.

If we take the time to get things in the right order, the foundation of our service is strengthened.  And, what we have to give to the World around us becomes a natural overflow of our well-being, our harmony with the ones we love and our strengthened relationship with the Source of Life.

It's a simple idea but it has helped me become clearer in my approach.  I'm now serving the World from a place of wellness and with the delightful knowledge that the people around me fully receive the gifts I have.

What's the right order for you?

Why not take some time to get clear on your priorities?

Life beckons us in so many directions.  Constant opportunities vie for our time and energy.  If we are clear on our priorities, we can say more purposeful "Yes" and "No" to the choices that come our way.

Praying that we all get things in the right order so we thrive each and every day,

Patricia Omoqui, The Thought Dr.
www.patriciaomoqui.com