Mike;

That is my point – we make our lives too complex as adults. Yes, in reality life is more complex than a 2-year-old is aware. When I was young I recall thinking all adults were liars. They would promise you something and you would focus on that one thing for a whole week only to be disappointed when it did not happen. When I became an adult I understood why plans do not always turn out the way we may have promised. Too much going on and changes are likely to occur at any instant in ones life. These are things a child may not understand.

Have you ever used a Day Planner? I found them to be lacking and finally discovered why. A Day Planner has you define your time schedule, etc. It is “Task Oriented”. Through my wife I discovered (for myself) the Franklin Planner. The Franklin Planner has you define your personal goals in life, how to attain your goals and organize your time to work towards your goals. At the end of the day you look over what you have accomplished. If you are not working towards your goals you must reevaluate how you spend your time and why. The goal you have defined may not be realistic or there is a serious problem that you must face.

Defining your goals is not easy. I put down five goals, and the one I had at the bottom was my health. After analyzing and suffering through my list and how I had prioritized it, I realized the most important goal was good health. I placed my goal for good health at the top of the list. For a few days I felt very guilty but soon understood you cannot give all of your self to your family if you want to be there to enjoy them and allow them to enjoy you. This occurred almost seven years ago shortly after our family was involved in an automobile accident. The doctor told me I was going to die after lying on a gurney for 14 hours in the Trauma Center at U.C. Davis. The doctor did not know me. Seven years later I still have my health and strength as my number one goal in life and work towards that goal everyday. Finding a balance to your life is so important. Be positive, avoid negative people and take care of your self, family and those around you. The world and you will be happier for your efforts.

My mother has always said: “I can only do one thing at a time”. The older I get the greater I realize the wisdom of that statement. In reality we can only do one thing at a time with total attention. I can rub my stomach and pat my head but that is not accomplishing any task that I find is of real value. Learning how to define what you must do and getting it done is a difficult quest but part of life.

Tom