What Really is Important?

So many things jockey for our attention every day, often every moment. So many things that seem necessary. So many things we feel we cannot live without. So many things that, at the time, seem so important, but are they really?

Tragedy, pain, and challenges all have a way of making things in life crystal clear. These difficulties strip away the unimportant and help us see what truly matters. The first time this happened to me was after my sister, at the age of 25, passed away very suddenly from brain cancer. It is something I would never wish on anyone, and it was one of the most painful experiences I have ever walked through.

The loss and the void that this event left behind is something to this day I still feel. In the days and months after her passing, it surprised me how so many things that I thought were so important, really did not seem that important any more. Things that just days, weeks, and months before had seemed so vital, just did not rank where they had.

It was as if something, even more important overshadowed them. As time moved on, this feeling and experience seemed to grow smaller, as once again things, that in reality, were far less important began to crowd out what was truly special and important in my life. I allowed less important things, to take the place of what really should have priority.

After learning of this new challenge, I spent a lot of time in silence, processing, talking to God, and considering what my future held. As I looked at my life, I realized that most likely I had less days ahead, less days that I would be functional before me, and I began to ask and consider “what is really important? What is worth my time and energy? What should my focus be? What things have I let slip that I should not have?”

As I considered these things, I began to see relationships that I had neglected. I saw times I was not intentional. I recognized things that I got worked up and frustrated over, that really were not that important. I began to see many wasted opportunities. I saw things that were much more important in my life than they should have been. I realized that things that were truly important – family, friends, serving Him – were taking a backseat. I saw myself having a casual attitude towards these things, and not being intentional.

What was really important? What should my focus be in the latter half of my life? What would I choose to emphasize? What would I focus my time and energy upon, and once again make a priority in my life? With this disease, what would be most important? What opportunities were missed or wasted simply because I was too busy or too tired (because I was spending my time and energy on less an important things)?

We have such a finite time to live and make a difference, something this disease has reminded me of. Over the last month, I have spent a lot of time simply asking, what am I doing with the time I have been given? We have so many opportunities, so much that we miss that is truly important. Why is that? Why do we major on the minor things of life?

Many times it is simply because our perspective becomes skewed, and we think that the wrong things are really the most important. We fail to take a step back and really ask ourselves “is this really that important, is this really where my focus and time should be placed?” If we were honest, most of the time, we would have to answer “no”.

We have such a limited amount of time before us. What do you consider most important – is that really most important in your life? What gets your time, energy, and emotions? It is easy to loose focus, get off track, and let other things crowd out what is important. As I spent time quietly considering these things, I realized how off I had become, and the need I had to once again discover what was truly important. What I discovered was how many things, in light of this new life circumstance were not as important as I thought they were just a few months before.

I wish I could say that I lived this perfectly, but I am still learning, as we all are. What is your focus in life? Are you spending time on this thing that are truly most important? This is something I am learning to consider day by day.