Reprioritizing

This was a big week for me.  I’m at a point in my education where I’ve been going to school for quite a while.  Unfortunately, I still have about 2 years to go because of all the other demands on my time it’s taken quite a while to get to this point and I’m beginning to feel burnt out.  This time of year I get very restless because I want to spend time with my family or even just out in the garden working.

A thought hit me like a ton of bricks the other day, what if I take a semester off?  I’ve never done this before.  I do always take the summer off, but at BYU-I, the summer is only a few short weeks and still about 4 months away.  I looked into it and with the help of my wife made a decision to “mostly” take the semester off.  I’ll actually still be taking one religion class, because religion and specifically daily scripture study is one thing I need to be better at.

I still wasn’t completely confident of my decision until I watched a video by Stan Christensen.  He said two things that hit me pretty hard.  He said, “Don’t do things because it’s what other people want you to do” and “You get to make your own story.”

I know not everyone will think it’s a good idea to tap the breaks at this point in my education.  I have a clear plan though and this doesn’t change my plan, in fact it reinforces my need for a balanced life that is primarily focused on my family.  For a number of years now I’ve had school as a priority, at least for the next 5-6 months, school will get to play second fiddle.