What is really important?

So much of what we consider important, probably isn’t. I am guilty of this – I get caught up in things that seem important or meaningful at the time, but really aren’t when I take a wider view of the world.

Taking this a step further, when I think about the trials and tribulations of my life compared to what they could be had I be born in a different time; in a different place; or to different parents – or a combination of these, I imagine I would have a very different view of what is important. I might value survival, or safety, or world domination, ahead of the priorities I hold now.

Now, however, I find that what is important to me in this life is changing. This is happening as so many things around me – and even me, undergo change.

It is apparent that I have to be flexible. There is no reason why that which I established as priorities in my first thirty years of life should remain priorities now and into the future. This is, in fact, a very liberating realisation. I can let go of things. I can start afresh. I can change and adapt, and that is okay and allowable. I shouldn’t let my past dictate my future.

We have the ability to adjust our values and priorities as we move through life. People are very unique in that regard. So, outside Maslow’s hierarchy, once we have satisfied our basic needs, we can allow our value sets to be defined and redefined as we see fit.

I think right now, I am moving through such a change. Things that have been important to me in the past, are not so important now. Things that did not hold value for me before, do now. This is a change that I am willing to embrace.