Priorities are very personal and something that drives our everyday lives.    

1.  Faith

When your first priority is your faith, everything else falls into place.  My time with Mary Kay Cosmetics (MK) allowed me to focus my priorities on three key factors, my faith, family, and career.  Always in that order.  It is what I am most grateful for taking away from my experience with MK.  I lived my life knowing the importance of my faith, family, and career; but when I clearly chose faith as my first priority life became much clearer.

2.  Family

Family for me is defined very broadly and for the purposes of this post includes anyone or anything that can breathe and is held near and dear to your heart.   

Setting family as my second priority in life means that daily I make decisions that are intended to positively influence those that I love. 

Nutrition is something that I believe can strengthen your family.  Taking the time to think about the fuel my family consumes is a priority for me.

Some of our meals are very elaborate others are incredibly simple.  But always they are balanced.  I normally cook weekend meals that make good leftovers for the week. 

if you don’t enjoy leftovers, there are very simple ways to eat nutritiously and quickly.  Grilled chicken takes 12 minutes, wash up some fresh fruit and set out some fresh carrots or celery.  Make a salad, add some fruit, vegetables and some protein.  Take a wrap and add chicken or beef, cheese, and some salsa.  Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds and serve with fresh fruit and carrots or a salad.  Make a fried egg sandwich on toasted bread and serve with some fresh fruit or vegetables.  Meals do not have to take long to prepare to be nutritional.  You do, however, need to plan and purchase the right products at the grocery store so that when you are in a rush nutritional products are available for you to prepare.   

Our family mealtime changes daily.  It is a huge priority of mine to attempt to find a time when we all eat together.  Most weeks we make time to eat together 5-7 times.  I don’t worry about what time we eat, I look at our schedules and when our family will be hungry. 

This past year my girls ate their school lunch at 10:30 in the morning.  By the time they came home from school, they were “starving.”  We started eating our dinner when they came home from school because that was when they were hungry.  In the evening, after their sports, they have a bowl of cereal, some fruit, a wrap, or something very quick and easy. 

Exercise is another priority for our family.  I have always told my girls that it does not matter what athletic activity they are involved in, but they must be involved in something.  I believe it is important to understand that staying active is critical to your overall health and well-being. 

I would not be a good example to them if I did not stay active myself.  It’s not easy making the time to exercise, but it has always been a priority.  My kids know that they will have to continue some level of fitness for their lifetime. 

3.  Career

As we evaluate our priorities and look at how we balance our family and career, many questions come to mind.

Why am I spending so much time on my career?  Is it because I love to be at work?  Is it because it makes me a better person when I am with my family?  Is it because I don’t like being home?  Is it because I want to financially keep up with my circle of friends?  Is it because it defines me?  Is it because I am trying to meet the never-ending needs of my family?

I can honestly say that when my husband was alive and my children were taken care of at home, running a company made me a better parent.  I loved to go to work in the morning and I loved to get into my car to drive home from work to see my family.  I had the best of both worlds.  I had a smile on my face when I went to work because they were my “work family” and I had a smile on my face leaving because I loved to come home to my husband and children.  For me, that balance was perfect. 

I always thought I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but the work/home balance was good for our family.  It was after I became a single parent that I had an opportunity to work from home.  Although I don’t think working from home has made me a better parent, it does make juggling schedules much easier. 

My life is centered around faith, family always being my second priority, making sure that my career can finance our needs.  Making sense of your priorities helps facilitate a well-functioning lifestyle.  Having faith as your first priority makes life much more enjoyable! 

Click here to stay connected.