It started when my son began Kindergarten.

“Just wait,” people said. “Wait until he gets to high school. You won’t believe how fast the time flies.”

“Enjoy them,” said the older ladies in the supermarket, as my toddler screamed and wiggled in the seat strap and my baby struggled to be seen in the cart, nestled between the Cheerios and peanut butter.

And they were right, of course. The time is flying.

But it’s not just our offspring’s childhood that can slip by, suddenly gone, without us comprehending where it went or how that happened or savoring the difficult moments along with the lovely, sunnier ones.

It’s friendships.

And meaningful work.

It’s faith.

And marriage.

Emerson said it this way in his essay, Prudence.

“Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live.”

What a terrible truth.

We hear it often, don’t we, that we must live in the moment? So often, we roll our eyes at this advice and wonder how on earth we can live with intention and focus on the Important Things when we have diapers to change and groceries to purchase and laundry to wash.

And the truth is, the wonderful truth, that we can’t do it all. We can drop that notion as quickly as we picked it up. We can work. We can mother. We can be wives. We can do the Important Things but we must take one simple and critical step first:

We must identify what is truly important to us.

And your Important Things won’t be the same as my Important Things.

When we know what’s most Important to us, it’s much easier to choose. It’s easier to let the laundry go for a day, or skip a soccer game for a much-needed laugh with 4 of the funniest friend a girl could ask for.

What’s worth Living with Intention to you?