"What desirest thou?" The Beauty of Priorities Applied

 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)
 
"Our priorities determine what we seek in life." (Dallin H. Oaks)

"Action expresses priorities" (Mahatma Gandhi)

Why do our daily choices so often utterly fail to reflect our most deeply held priorities?  

Our espoused priorities, those we verbally express to ourselves and others, reveal our most deeply held desires.  It may be said that the most ubiquitous of human desires is lasting happiness, a motivating force as integral to the mortal condition as food, drink, and air.

Yet our actual priorities, those upon which we daily act, far too often confirm the depressing maxim that "the greatest cause of unhappiness in the world today is giving up what we want most for what we want now." (Unknown)  We sacrifice lasting happiness for momentary pleasure.  Enduring love for fickle lust.  The ennobling joys of selfless service for the ephemeral gratification of self-centered pursuits.  But we don't have to.  

The same divinely appointed powers of habit which drive negative behavior can equally empower us to become enlightened, loving, Children of God, those who chart their lives according to the stars of divine priorities.  As Stephen Covey so eloquently argues, "the key is not to prioritize what's on [our] schedule[s], but to schedule [our] priorities."

And what of the ultimate goal of our priorities, obtaining the natural desire for lasting happiness?  A general argument may be made for a direct correlation between a person's happiness and the quality of his interpersonal relationships with others.  A wise man once (in fact, frequently) said: "What matters most in life is the relationships you maintain and the lives you touch." (Author's Father, Unsolicited [but Always Appreciated] Paternal Advice, 1986-present.)

Whatever vocational achievements we may reach, whatever academic merits we may obtain, whatever financial heights we scale, whatever Facebook photo-worthy adventures in which we engage...all pale in comparison to the individual lives we touch and the love we give.  Life's success is ultimately measured by the loved ones at our graveside, not the quickly forgotten stories of workplace prowess.

Thank Heaven for the gift of Time, and for the individual agency we enjoy to give that gift as we see fit.  "Facebooking" or reading with a child?  Downloading a movie or visiting a neighbor?  Inane internet chatting or an affectionate hug for a spouse?  Overtime at work or dinner with family?  And so, hour on the hour, our true priorities reveal themselves...