Priority

Priority

Being a single man, I have great respect for family life. I always insist
that family is the first priority in god's idealism for humanity. So I too
promote the importance of responsibility and commitment towards one's own
family first. However, like a single person, a family too cannot exist and
function independently. Like all other human beings and institutions, its
very identity depends upon its interaction and involvement with the outer
society. So, however the family people are committed to their own home
first, yet they have wider responsibility to the outer society as well.

So, while taking care of all the responsibility in a family, the one
blessing of a family life is that one individual is not indispensable for
the smooth function of the family. What I mean by this is that a person in
a family can find another replacement when s/he has to choose two equally
important commitments. Whereas in a single person's life, s/he has no such
choice.

Of course PRIORITY decides even in this. If two commitments are demanding
same attention, then the family person should decide according to the
priority basis. But, when s/he excuses other commitments and responsibility
in the name of family responsibility and commitment, in which s/he can be
replaced by someone else, then it is mere laziness or lack of responsibility
towards the other commitment. Though we can accept other choices and
priorities, if it is going to disturb others, who are also involved, then no
family person should use his family as a scape goat to get rid of her/his
responsibility to which s/he has already committed.

Dayanand Bharati
Mathigiri, July 23, 2007.