No doubt our priorities can change. We always keep the most important things where they are in our list, but within those broad categories (God, Family, Work, etc.) we can make changes.
When our children are small, our priority is to give them the necessities of life and help them learn to be responsible, independent adults. When they are grown, that is no longer an issue although our children and family still have the same place in the hierarchy of priorities. Changes happen as we mature and experience the different stages of our lives.
As I retired from 30 years of classroom teaching, my organizing business was just getting started. Within a year, it grew so rapidly that it consumed as much time as teaching. At that point, I had to make a choice of keeping it as a priority with my time or placing it below other things that were more important. Upon retiring from the teaching career, I had hoped to spend more time in the activities of my church and with my grandchildren. I couldn't do that with this new career, so I began to train other organizers to take most of the workload. Also, I no longer update my organizing blogs on a monthly basis, but have structured them together with archives that keep the monthly tips available to anyone wanting them.
It is hard to let go of routines that are familiar and even more so with relationships. It may be necessary, however, to do just that in order to keep our priorities in line. Growth takes place whenever we are able to make those hard choices. That is what maturity is all about.
