First Things First

First Things First

"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” by H.L. Hunt . This statement simply summarises the principle of "first things first ".

Nature's number one principle is probably : first things first. Take having a baby for example. From copulation and sperm deposition  (except otherwise) to conception . Then the mother carries the baby for a period of about 9 months ( more or less) to finally putting to bed. Even when the child is born, first things first applies. From regular care and support from the mother , the child gradually grows. From just carrying, the child grows to crawl, then walk, run and so on. So you see... first things first!  Take growing a crop as another example, you sow the seed, then the seed germinates and grows to maturity before you harvest your plant. First things first! Again, notice the flow...the flow of events all leading to the goal. In the midst of so many distractions and challenges, this principle can bring that kind of flow to what we have set out to do and achieve ( more or less).

As a child growing up, I loved the story of creation from the bible. Thinking about it again, I realised that the principle of "first things first " is just encapsulated in it. I will drop the first 25 verses from Genesis chapter 1 ( the  King James bible ) here ;

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

What a long read * smiles *. We see that even God followed "first things first". The first thing God did( from the story) was to organise and bring structure. So from " without form and void...and darkness ", God created light, form and the heavens and the earth, and put a structure in place. God also divided the land from the waters. He made provisions for  whatever he was going to create before going ahead to create. He created a home for the water creatures and then created them and did same for land creatures and air creatures. First things first!

The principle of first things first deals with priority. It allows one to deal with the primary and to lay the foundations for further development.  It also helps one identify what is important. The challenge is, most times, we spend a great deal of time dealing with urgent things that come up probably from our everyday schedule. Sometimes, it might be urgent but not important. At other times, it can be urgent and also important...and so it goes. My suggestion is to always ask yourself what you really want to achieve and make both short term and long term plans with provisions for flexibility of course, so that urgent but important needs that might arise can always be taken care of. Most importantly, applying this singular principle can bring order and organisation to our lives and allow us to maintain our focus.

Thank God is Friday! I urge all of us to do " first things first " please and stop giving attention to the wrong item on our list. Let's give priority where priority ought to be.

Finally, I close with this :  " What tasks are more important? It’s hard to know when you’re caught up in the flow of things, just doing things left and right, quickly switching between tasks, and so on. Everything seems important. But when we step back and think about what matters most, what will make the most difference in the world and in our lives, we can see what we need to focus on, to make time for. We can’t step back unless we’re aware that we’re getting caught up in less important tasks.” ~ Leo Babauta.

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