I’m typing tonight with one hand. I’m thinking about the Autobahn in Germany and priorities in my world. I’m typing with one hand because I have sprained my wrist. I was walking to the library when I slipped down an embankment and fell on my hand.
What, you ask, does this have to do with the Autobahn or prioritization? Nothing and everything.
Did you know that the Autobahn is one of the safest roadways in the world? Fewest accidents per whatever.
Did you also know that there is no speed limit? People fly at 120 mph tearing up the tar, driving how they wish and there are few accidents.
People are like that or at least they should be. They travel through life at there own speed and they have few accidents. But sadly, in life, there are limitations.
Everything ever created is a limitation (Note: created does not necessarily imply the existence of God, merely the organization and structure of combined elements).
Every ounce of social architecture that man has mustered from the mud, just serves to hold him back.
Religion is a limitation on man’s desire to know about himself, his origin, purpose and future. Government is a limitation on absolute freedom, acquisition and choice. Society limits our options in realms of association and employment. Jobs limit our drive to accomplish things. Geography limits who we see, what culture we are, what we eat and how we look. Traditional views on sex limit our options of pleasure and intimacy. Values limit the way we are allowed to resolve disputes, both physical and in the soul.
Our very creation limits our ability to achieve. Our bodies get old, sick, malformed, abused, are nothing but shells that keep the spirit prisoner. Our souls, well, depending on what you believe, are either the slave of an overgrown kid with the kind of chemistry set I would like to have, or maybe just space dust.
Man has limitation written into his code from “ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” As such, since we can’t travel at our own speed, there are accidents, injuries and pile-ups.
World wars, genocide, homicide, robbery. Hate, crime, war and death are all byproducts (or perhaps the purposes) of creation.
Entropy, baby, follow me down the rabbit hole, you’re late for your date.
In the end all creation limits the ability of every particle to experience existence to the fullest. There is limitation on our ability to get what we want. Everything ever created is limited to its potential, derived from its creator.
Thus not only is everything ever created a limitation, but every creation has its limitations, which brings us to priorities.
Since, by the nature of creation, nothing (man or Milk Dud) is truly independent, and since all things created are and have limitations, it is not possible to ever experience life in every material form or (in the case of sentient beings) have every emotion. To be specific, humans are limited to a certain few experiences, and of those they must choose which to have or how to adapt to those thrust upon them (i.e. abuse).
Essentially, because humans are limited, they have ‘options’ from which they must (usually) choose only one form of a particular experience.
Because we have personalities (or individual option predispositions) we will all make different choices. Blanket preferences which motivate humans to act are priorities. Priority is the level of preference and/or motivation one has for a particular option.
Example: it is lunchtime, and you are hungry. You can get to class on time or get food and be late. Depending on which has the most importance to you at any given moment, that is the decision you are predisposed to make. So it is with all decisions.
Peer pressure or threats are merely ways of rearranging priority.
Meaning, if someone points a gun to your head and asks for your money, your priority is probably your life.
Let’s get a little more morally gray. You (or your significant other) are pregnant. Do you keep the child or not? It all comes down to what we feel is more important.
Is it saving a life, rectifying a mistake, saving a college career, taking a life?
It all comes down to what we feel is the most pressing, individual by individual.
What are your priorities in life? What’s important to you? Look to your everyday choices to see.
A wise man once said, “Character is what we would do if we knew no one was watching.”
Our character is the sum of our priorities. Therefore, since people are limited they are forced to make choices. Choices are determined by priorities, and priorities show what we feel is the most important.
In the end, we are what we value.

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