It is amazing, the things in our life that can sit in the back of our mind until eventually we are able to dig deep and find out more truths of ourselves. One particular thing that lives in the back of our minds and always exists is our priorities in life. The things that bring us joy, the things that we see a reason to live for, the things we simply could not be without.

Thinking about my priorities in life, at this point in time I have no idea what my mind is going to come up with. I have yet to open the door to my subconscious and allow the list to pour out. I’m sure that subconsciously I argue over these priorities every day- what’s more important for me to do right now? But I feel that it is important to be able to identify with your priorities and so, as I begin my quest through my subconscious mind, here is what I have come up with:

1) My relationship with my fiance
We live in a world where the people that are around us, in many ways, are what create us. My fiance is someone that I have been living with now for almost two years. We are best friends and true lovers. We have endured many ups and downs in our relationship and in the end have always found comfort and safety within the hearts of one another. Our relationship is an important priority to me, it makes me happy. He is an important priority to me- his health, his happiness, his successes and even his failures. Everything about him, good and bad, is something that I simply could not be without. Something that my life would not be the same without and so he, and our relationship, are my number one priority.

2) My education
Recently out of high school, you’d think that education would be something that I simply dread but I’m not stupid, I see things for what they are worth. I need my education to lead me into the future. I plan on becoming a journalist and having a career that I love more than anything. In order to do so I must hold my education as a high priority in life.

3) My Health
I am such a health-nut that it’s unbelievable. Ironically however I have a weak immune system and often I catch colds or flus, or whatever is flying through the air. It is important to me to remain healthy, to take care of my heart and my lungs, and to maintain a healthy weight. I also really enjoy working out and building some muscle. Strength is important to me- especially as a young woman of the world nowadays.

4) Writing
Writing is so much more than a hobbie to me, it’s everything that I am. Without a pen and paper, without my thoughts- I’m nothing. I’ve been writing since the second I knew how to put a sentence together. Poetry has always brought me great joy and as I grow as a writer I grow as a person and I have grown so much- from day to day simply be doing something that I love.

5) Cleanliness
I know this is sort of a strange thing to have on the list but it’s something that is important to me. It’s about maintaining myself. I always feel better being in a clean home, and I always feel better being clean myself. Showers, bathes, etc. - these are all things that I simply could not live without. I love to be clean because it raises my self-esteem and makes me feel refreshed. Often it is a great remedy when I am feeling sick from a head cold- to simply have a shower and refresh myself.

6) Music
Singing, playing guitar, whatver- music is simply important to me and something that I will always try to make time for. It’s something that relieves my stress and something that brings me happiness. I would never push aside my music.

7) Travel
Although I have not had a lot of time to travel in my life yet, travel is a priority that is important to me. Travel represents what I do for myself to bring me happiness. It represents an escape, a joy, a sense of adventure and fun, all of which are important to me.

8) Work
I know that work probably should have been higher on my life, but I am an honest person. I see work for what it’s worth in my life- a source of income to support the things that are important to me- and nothing more. But keeping this in mind it is supporting some very important things for me and must thus be held high in my long list of priorities.

9) Family
Let me first explain that when I say family I do not mean: mom, dad, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I mean the family that I have developed for myself which means some blood relatives, friends, and the relatives of my fiance. These are people that are important to me and I make them a huge priority in my life although I live all the way across the country from many of them.

Finally… 10. This list has honestly been hard to write. It’s hard to dig into your mind and truly discover what is important to you. In saying this, 10 is self discovery. I want to be able to search deep within myself, to understand myself, and to grow. Venturing through the quest of self discovery and self-improvement I feel that I will become the person that I truly want to be- whomever that is and so now I am finished my list of ten priorities and begin priority number ten.