A Lesson in Prioritizing

At some point over the last four months, I’d made a really poor decision. Somehow, I’d convinced myself that taking the time out of my life to actively engage in spiritual contemplation was Not Worth It. That my hectic, petty, day-to-day trials were far more critical to my well-being than the simple act of thanking God for the pleasure of being alive.

As always, with hindsight keener than foresight, I realize that was damn stupid.

Yesterday, I came back to my apartment in mid-afternoon, and decided that I had a simple goal. The apartment was quiet and empty, aside from myself. I would take advantage of that aloneness. I did some stretching with Wii Fit (and played some silly games), lit my little electric tea-light and prayed quietly. It was a simple act, and I wondered why I didn’t do it more often. I realized that all the inordinate amount of time I spend clicking around the Internet looking for something interesting to read or refreshing Facebook/LiveJournal/the House of Netjer forums could easily be replaced with this simple, valuable thing. It took all of an hour.

Afterwards, I sat and read for class. I was focused, I was calm, I was centered and cool and able to think clearly. Not surprising. And while I don’t think I’ll always have free time like that, it’s something that can be condensed. One yoga pose a morning, maybe? 15 minutes of quiet prayer before leaving for work? It’s simple, short, and soothing. In Kemetic Orthodoxy we have the blessing of a structured, simple ritual that is probably my favorite thing to do, but is unfortunately next to impossible at school. I think it’s worth replacing temporarily for the tradeoff, though.