Setting Priorities

My 2nd grade teacher had it right when she snapped to attention a daydreaming Alex. She said something like, "Unless what you're thinking about is so important that it's going to save the world, you should pay attention to what I have to say, right now!"

Sure, she was a bit sharp, but this quip makes the choice clear: do what you're supposed to do unless you have something better to do.

In my mind, this interaction created a series of complex priorities as follows:

• Ignore class whenever you feel like it
• Pay attention to class because it's probably more meaningful then straight daydreaming
• Use class as inspiration for important things
• Pursue important things when inspired by class
• Try to save the world