Photo: Drew Coffman
Last week went nothing like I had planned on Sunday night; my week was going to be spent writing, planning and working.
Mondays are usually my research and writing day. I work on my blog post for the week and look for articles of interest to share on my Be Real Facebook page and Twitter.
Monday morning my friend called and said she had the day off work and asked if I wanted to run a couple of errands with her. Of course! I don't get enough time with her, so I changed my plans, thinking I could catch up later that day or on Wednesday.
But I couldn't get my head into my work when I got home and the rest of Monday was useless for writing.
Wednesday I forgot I had a later-than-usual hair appointment - right in the middle of the morning! My hair is not naturally this beautiful color, so it wasn't a quick appointment. No problem, I'd just work into the evening. I still had writing to do and a health coaching appointment on Thursday to prepare for.
At the last minute my husband decided we should go see Rear Window playing at the local theater Wednesday night. I'll never pass up a chance to see a classic movie on the big screen, so off we went.
I had gotten some writing done but it wasn't complete; I thought I'd catch up at lunch on Thursday at my "day job". (That actually didn’t happen.)
Thursday after my day job, then the health coaching appointment, I came home to finish my blog post - but it was gone from my computer! Somehow I lost what I had been working on and had to start over. Late Thursday night I finally had it ready to go.
Friday I had a last minute lunch date with my college son while I was in Kalamazoo. (Still with work to finish at home.) About 10 minutes after I got home a friend unexpectedly stopped in to visit and we spent an hour talking. It was awesome!
Saturday morning I thought I could finally catch up on my work and get ahead for next week. Nope!
At 8:30 my son-in-law asked if I'd like to go with he and my daughter to have breakfast with his dad. I've known his dad for 10 years, so honored to have been asked I agreed to go and we had a wonderful time!
I'm telling you about my week because as I thought about it I noticed a theme. Many times last week relationships won over work.
I took time to be with people who are important to me, who love me and whom I love back.
I never want to be so busy writing blog posts and doing other work that I can't take time to shop with a friend, have a movie date with my husband, have lunch with my son, visit with a friend or go for coffee with my daughter and her in-laws.
Life is about relationships and spending time with people we love, it's about doing life together.
And while I still felt behind in what I wanted to accomplish last week, I wouldn't trade the time I spent with people for anything!
What about you? Are you placing loved ones as priority number one over work? Are you taking time for a cup of coffee with in-laws over pursuit of a dream? Do your children know they're more important than your research and planning? Do you have time for your friends?
Relationships are most important above all else. No matter what you’re working on, it can wait while you spend time with people. The work will be there later.
Who can you spend time with this week instead of working? In what way can you make them feel special and important?
Read my next post: Slow Down
