To thine Own self be true- Non-essentials renewed and reposted

"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
 Hamlet Act 1: Scene 3 -Shakespeare

Lately I have been reminded that I have a list of values and non-essential items in my life that I need to keep to.

Some of my values are: God, my family, friends, work. In that order, without question.

So what are my non-essentials, well I hope it is obvious. Everything that isn't in my values list.

People who know me well, know that I love media and entertainment. I love movies, blogging, Youtube and the list could go on. If I want to relax these are my usual go to activities. But these things aren't of true importance to me in their own right.

Recently I was writing a blog post and Amy came in and asked me if I would like to come to Garden Works with her. I could have kept on blogging but I chose to head off with her. It was a great choice because we ended up getting ice cream, going to a movie prop store, we had a blast. I could have chosen to stay at home and blog and watch a movie, but instead was rewarded with a better time with Amy.

This got me thinking about my most important value which is God. How often do I put things in front of Him. Way more than I should that is for sure. I often will put spending time with Amy or friends in front of God. While these aren't bad things I am missing out on my #1 Priority.

Just a couple days ago, I was feeling pretty bummed about a bunch of stuff. So I decided I was going to take some time and just focus on relaxing and forgetting what was going on, when this little voice told me I should spend some time with God.

I know I have ignored this voice a lot in my life but I decided to take it up on its advice. "Well alright Mr.Cricket I will read my Bible and pray!"  So I took about a half hour to pray,  read my Bible while listening to Worship music. It was awesome, I felt better and refreshed about things and really felt close with God.

I know these may be small things, but they are important. So take some time, and be true to thine self. Reflect on whats important and instead of moving on right away; figure out a way to engage in each one of those things today or the next couple of days, to show that that is really a value of yours.