Asking what’s most important
(Nimue)
One of the small daily practices I’ve been exploring in the last month or so, is to ask what’s most important. I do this at the start of each day. Making the time for the question rather than just getting up and getting on with things is part of a larger shift. I used to be very much an up-and-at-it sort of person whenever my health allowed. These days I often stay in bed for a little while after I’ve woken up, and approach the day at a gentler pace.
What will be most important today? The odds are I already have some plans or intentions in place. I may revisit those, but my priority is to just be open to what seems most important intuitively. I watch out for the more unexpected responses. Whatever comes, I try to sit with it for a few minutes and just get a sense of how it works or how to follow through on it.
What’s most important right now? That can vary a lot. I give myself permission to think about what I might need from the day as well as what others might need from me. I check any plans I’ve already made and see how these look in light of any new thoughts.
It’s not something I invest a huge amount of time in, but I’m finding it beneficial. Sometimes unexpected priorities emerge, and I like where that’s taking me. I’m finding more room for what I need for myself rather than what’s needed from me. It’s informing how I pace things.
This is also a practice that allows inspiration to enter in. Sometimes what comes in response to that question is an idea, or an answer to something that needed dealing with. That might be inspiration for practical problems, for projects I’m working on or for things I’d not previously considered even needed attention. It opens up space for possibility.
It also creates space to explore any tensions between what’s supposed to be happening and what I actually want. Some days I just have to get up and do the things – whatever they are. I might not like them, or want to do them but some things just have to be tackled. Acknowledging how I feel tends to help me deal with the things I’m not keen on and to handle that more effectively. Recognising when I’m uncomfortable means I’ll do a better job of offsetting such challenges and keeping myself in a more functional state overall.
There are all kinds of things a person can make deliberate time for in a day, and I can certainly recommend this as something to explore if you’re looking at small, everyday activities either to enhance your everyday life or to open up space for intuition and/or inspiration.
