Myself last

I have always prided myself for putting myself last.  I've often looked down on friends who occupy themselves with themselves.  My dad used to eat a meal a day at the soup kitchen to not take food from his family.  I thought that was the way to be a dad.

A few days ago I had my 10 year old daughter in the car with me and we slid off the road in an ice storm.  I've needed new tires for months, but put it off as I also needed to fix my wife's car, my roof, had a new baby and many other demands on our limited financial resources.  As I slid off the road and nearly into a canal, I realized that those tires represented all that I had chosen not to balance and take care of.  My needs are also my families needs.  They need new tires to be safe, not just me.

What I thought was selfishness was really putting off the necessary and a lack of prioritizing.  What are you not getting done that needs to be?  What could take a few minutes or dollars and save time or money, or a life?  What could you replace to free up resources?  What are you not noticing the importance of, like my bald tires?