The Art of Living Better: First Things First

Not there yet--got work first

First Things First

            Okay boys and girls, I’ve got a new toy in the form of my left foot and I really want to get to walking. I’m recovering from foot surgery and I’m itching to get out doors.

I feel like a kid again wanting to run and play before chores are done, but there must be an order to life.

This morning, when I sat down to write, I had to stop and clean off the table before I could even do so. My daughter believes that washing the dishes means washing the dishes, but I grew up in a time when washing the dishes meant cleaning the entire kitchen; floors included. You could not say that you had washed the dishes if you hadn’t cleaned the kitchen table too.

My mother’s mantra was “first things first.”

She’d say things like, “Put things back to where they came from and no one would know you had them.”

My mother believed that you should leave things better than how you found them and that by taking care of the little things you were making the big ones happen.

In this world of super-fast information and instant gratification, we need to be reminded that there really is an order to the process and a process to success.

Take care of the small things and the big things will appear.

Everything takes time so whether you are waiting for a foot to heal or a child to really grow up, take the necessary steps to care for, clean, teach and discipline your day.

If “a” plus “b” equals “c” then get your “a” game ready. Stop trying to have “c” without “a” and “b”.

My mom worked hard, raised seven children on her own and kept talking about how things were going to get better. She kept working and we kept listening. When we got tired of hearing her, we applied her lessons and found them to be true.

My mom was 87 when she died, and she would have told you that her hard work paid off.

Be you, be disciplined, be better.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

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