Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before

I have to say, the pickle party post is a tough one to follow! But I'll try...

Over on my other blog tonight, I mentioned a quote from R.E.M. that I've heard so many times, but never really thought about before:

"Stand in the place where you live, now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before."

I think maybe this caught me now because I heard two talks at a conference today that inspired/challenged me to think about my direction, and how I spend my time each day.

In the middle of one of the talks, this sneaking suspicion came over me that I'd lost direction (or, as I once heard a pastor say, I'd "lost the plot") in my life. In the middle of the session, I grabbed a pen and jotted down my priorities on the back page of my notebook. I included all kinds of things: writing, family, friends, THAT DOG, God, Steve, writing, family, church, and then moved them around and around based on two criteria:

What don't I ever want to live without?
If something HAD to go, what would it be?

It was surprisingly easy to line things up, and daunting how out of whack I've gotten in planning my days. I felt an odd sense of hope in this wake-up call, though, like I have a chance to get back on track now, rather than live with regret later.

Have you ever had a wake up call like this when you think about direction? If so, how hard was it to break old habits and recalibrate?

And don't worry...even though canning pickles is not ANYWHERE on my list of life priorities, I'm grandfathering the party in under the "time with friends" category...I'll make sure to report back on every slice and jar :)