If we’re diligent, at one time or another, we’ll decide to make a list of things that we need to get done. The good thing about making such lists is that it allows us to gather all our disparate ideas in one place so that we feel less distracted when we’re working on any particular task. However, we need to be careful that we do not misinterpret the information that we have noted down. Here’s why, and this is good news: you don’t have to do everything on your list. Let me say that again for emphasis. You don’t have to do every task that you can dream up for yourself.
We only need to do the tasks that are important. Those that are not important can wait, or better still, if a task is not important, it’s probably better not to do it at all because if we’re spending time doing things that are not of much value we are wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere. So which tasks are important and if we don’t know how do we find out? There is only one way to find out what is important and that is through introspective spiritual development. If we reflect on it for a moment it is intuitive to most of us that nobody can tell another person what is important. Therefore, we can’t get it from reading, studying or from listening to speeches.
If we want to know what we value then we need to look inside for those answers. Therefore when we find that we are having trouble keeping up with our to-do list or we find that we are overwhelmed by stress, embarking on insight meditation training is always the answer. If we train in mindfulness, we will never be too far away from our genuine priorities. They are always there waiting for us to just observe them. Of course, if we want to observe consistently then we will need to have practiced. For this reason, regular meditation retreats are necessary. Once we have accepted the importance of integrating spirituality into our daily and annual routine, we will learn how to quickly overcome temporary stressful situations. Happiness and satisfaction can then take over as our principal emotions.