After a staff development program I presented in Florida, a teacher sent me a note: "When I arrived home, I got myself all worked up about everything I needed to accomplish. I resigned myself to the possibility that my summer was slipping away and I wouldn't be able to spend time with friends and family as I had planned. I made a list of all the friend's I would have to call to cancel plans. Then I crawled in bed and grabbed, Keeping First Things First. I read the first page:

It seems as though there's never enough time to do all the things we have to do. Or is there?

When I got to work today, I realized that my shoes weren't shined. I bent over to shine them at home this morning, but heard my little son crying before I got the lid off the polish. So I went to him and picked him up and dried his tears and gave him love.

Then I didn't have time to go back and shine my shoes. I had to leave. That's okay. Some day my shoes will be in a scrap heap and no one will care whether they were ever shined. But the love I gave my son this morning will live on in him and those he passes it on to.

No, I'm not embarrassed that my shoes aren't shined. They're a sign that I'm learning to keep first things first.

"Wow! Perfect! I really needed that! I reached over and crumpled up that list of 'friends to cancel' and tossed it in the trash. I now have a new list — a schedule of people to visit with. My chores will be penciled in around them. Thanks."

"As a new mother,I made the same mistake that most Type-A personalities make. I tried to be 'Super Mom.' I physically and emotionally wore myself down and eventually just collapsed... Your insights are absolutely incredible and I can't tell you how much they have helped me."— C.M.

The Greatest Gift Of All

"Since I teach, I have my summers free. Every summer I have a list a mile long to complete. My children were young, so I worked at my list before they woke up, while they napped, and after they went to bed at night. This year, however, the oldest of my three doesn't nap...and my list of previous summers is gone.

"I was feeling rather unproductive until I read Keeping First Things First. Now I would feel guilty if I completed my list. I'm enjoying my kids and they're enjoying me. Thanks for making my summer." L.G., Dixon, IL

"It is the perfect gift for a special friend of mine who has recently had to adjust to her first-born leaving for college." — L.V., Rhode Island

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