You’re probably here because, like me, you want to use your unique voice and spiritual gifts to influence the world. If you’ve been following my weekly posts, you may have noticed that I’ve been sharing the way to do this – line upon line. As I have been working on this framework, I knew that it was important – no, crucial – to include points of pause and ponder concerning our priorities. A priorities check-in. After all, Mother Teresa said, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” I believe in this sentiment one thousand per cent.
To start your priorities check-in, you must know what your priorities are! It seems like such a simple and obvious practice that many people don’t give it the intentional thought it deserves. So, join me and let’s pause, ponder, and prioritize.
Let me start by sharing a short story. I heard somewhere about a successful woman who was asked how she balanced working and being a mother. She said that the key to juggling is to know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic and some are made of glass.
If you drop a plastic ball, it bounces. No harm done. If you drop a glass ball, it shatters. You need to know which balls are glass and which are plastic and prioritize catching the glass ones. Now, this woman was not talking about juggling five balls. She was talking about juggling FIFTY-FIVE balls. The balls don’t represent “work” or “family.” There are separate balls for everything that goes into each of those categories. “Deadline on Project X” or “crazy sock day at school” are examples of what each ball represents.
Her point was not to “prioritize kids over work.” It was “some family stuff is glass and some is plastic, and sometimes, to catch a glass work ball, you have to drop a plastic family one, and vice versa. If you are juggling 55 balls, some are going to drop. Focus on the glass balls, not on the broad category.
So, what are your glass balls? What are your plastic balls? I encourage you to make a list of as many balls you can think of and categorize them in “glass” or “plastic” — “essential” and “nonessential.”
“[There] are essential things which must be done before nonessential things… What a different world and Church this would be if every Latter-day Saint sister excelled at making, renewing, and keeping covenants; if every sister qualified for a temple recommend and worshipped more often in temples; if every sister studied the scriptures and doctrines of Christ and knew them so well that she could teach and defend those doctrines at any time or place. Think of our combined strength if every sister had sincere prayer every morning and night or, better yet, prayed unceasingly as the Lord has commanded. If every family had family prayer daily and had a family home evening once a week, we would be stronger. If every sister was self-reliant enough to be able to give freely of her knowledge, talents, and resources and if every sister’s discipleship was reflected by what she said and what she wore, we would be immovable in that which is correct.” –Julie B. Beck
The thing about “plastic balls” is that they just don’t matter. That car you drive, the house you built, the money in your bank account, or your number of online likes – they just don’t mean a thing.
Do you know what does?
Bringing a casserole to a friend in need.
Hugging your mom after months of isolation.
Opening the door for a stranger.
Kissing your spouse after a long, hard day.
Holding your little boy’s hand as he starts a new adventure in school.
Hearing “I love you” from your dad.
Donating your time to a cause that helps others.
Reading a book with your daughter.
Praising Heavenly Father who loves you and me.
And yet, we all spend so much precious time on those likes, don’t we?
There’s so much good to do, and we want to do it all! I know the feeling. But if you want to share good, you need to make sure you are good. I’ve been dropping a lot of balls lately. I took a week off of writing here and posting on Instagram. My bathrooms are long overdue for a good cleaning. But those are plastic balls, and tomorrow it will all be okay.
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