JOY ALONG THE WAY: SETTING PRIORITIES FOR THE NEW SEASON

From overuse, the phrase, "first of all," threatens to become one word, "firstofall." "Sick and tired," has already slipped into "sickandtired" status, though not yet in the dictionaries.

Naturally we hear a lot of rhetoric this presidential election year. Many of our pundits and commentators start their orations or answers to questions with, "Well, first of all ...." It is a rarity if you hear Madaleine Albright start a sentence any other way than this "first of all" phrase, and she sprinkles this phrase generously through the rest of her response.

During the last century the word, "well," began to decline in usage as the initial word for any sentence. It had a long run. I had an English professor back in the 30s who laid bets that, "Well," would be the first word in the speakers responses. This professor was able to retire early.

It may be that the phrase, "first of all", gives the speakers a second or two to maneuver gears in their minds, hoping to come up with a suitable answer.

Could it be that such speakers and conversationalists have really thought things through and their automatic "first of all" indicates they do have priorities in proper order? I would like to think that. First of all because priorities are important.

Old-timers who were brought up to encapsulate the big lifetime priorities had them: God. Family. Country. They wondered when lightning was going to strike those who did not adhere to this, especially to those who wandered off into the "Me. Mine. Money." priority land.

Arranging things in order of their importance and which things should be done first comes naturally to many people. They can look at a complex situation and see immediately what should have been done first, second, third, etc. Others may have to mutter, mull and meditate to deal with the mess.

I think that priorities fall into these categories: Lifetime. Seasonal. Daily. With the "God. Family. Country." lifetime priorities still firmly in place one can attend to personal seasonal and daily priorities with a measure of ease.

We have entered a new season, the fourth quarter of the year, the downslide into winter. There are different things that move up to the top of the list of things to do, replacing those of the last season. While in spring and summer we may have on our list: Check the air conditioner. Put away the blankets and space heaters. Wash and store sweatshirts, call the lawnmower people, etc. Now we sort out other things such as: Check the furnace, air the blankets and quilts, get a flu shot, study the candidates and what they stand for in preparation for intelligent voting, get on a library list for the new books you wish to read when cold winds whistle around the house corners and snow comes in on those little cats' feet.

As for daily priorities, sometimes you can arrange them in those last cozy moments before you slip out of bed. Of course, that's not allowing for interruptions throughout the day. My first priority is to sit on the edge of the bed and give thanks for the gift of a new day. Then I meander on from habit -- dress, plug in the coffee pot, step outside to see if any changes have occurred around the premises, breakfast, paper and so on through the day. It is fairly easy since I put God, family, country first.

REJOICE!

Jean Bell Mosley is an author and longtime resident of Cape Girardeau.