That which matters most

In my heart I have always had a really clear idea of the thing that matters most to me, my relationships. I have always known the value of the people in my life, always loved my family and appreciated my friends but I haven't always lived what's in my heart..

There was a time in my not so distant past when I might have felt those things in my heart but I certainly wasn't living them. It started by placing work as the most important thing and then it spiralled out of control and there was so much to do. Before I knew it I was tired and out of control and that's when it happened; that's when I stopped investing in my relationships. That may be a bit dramatic, I mean I didn't stop investing in them altogether but my priorities were definitely off and any investment I was making was into the wrong relationships (tip: 2 broken halves will never make a whole! This goes for both lovers and friends, being bound by brokenness is not sustainable but that's a whole other post).

I was recently reminded that this is something we are all in danger of.  For you it might not be your career, it might be a personal problem that seems to require more than you have to give or planning a wedding or making a new marriage work or raising a child or any one of the million challenges we face in life. It starts off as being important so you put in the hard work but the more you put in the more it demands and suddenly you are lost in it and you can't remember the last time you ate too much food with your best friend. It happens really easily and it will happen to us all at some many points in our lives but it's what we do in those moments that make all the difference.

I remember the "it's just too hard/I feel so guilty/the last thing I need is to go out right now/I want to go to bed" argument I used to have in my head but the crazy thing is that all it took was 2 mins with the person I loved and suddenly I was full of life! The people in our lives, the ones we have given a place in our heart, they are what re-energise us! They remind us who we are beyond that thing that is consuming our life, they love us in our brokenness and have the energy to find the obvious solutions that we are too tired to see! They are what we need in those moments more than anything else!

I can remember being exhausted and wondering how I was going to stay awake on the train trip to my parents but as soon as I saw my Dad at the station I felt at home and by the time I had a cup of tea with my Mum I felt completely myself and a trip to the beach with my sister = wow! I am now also blessed with  amazing girlfriends who do the same thing but it's not just about what I can get from these relationships it's about what I can give. How can I show them how important they are to me and what they mean to my world? The answer is very simple I can give them my time.

And it doesn't need to be a lot of time. It can be a phone call, an email, a cup of coffee, a quick lunch during the week, helping out on a photo shoot, dinner, doing a dance class together, walking the dog, taking someone who's had a hard week some food, lending someone a book. It's about doing life together. There are a million little moments in each day where you have the opportunity to love and invest in the relationships that are important to you.

It's not hard to re-charge the relationships that feed your soul and it's not hard to keep investing in those relationships. I pray that those of us who need to reconnect, that we take a moment today to tell the people we love that we love them :) For those who feel disconnected I pray that you take a moment to reach out to the person you love but haven't seen for a while because you may just be the energy hit they need.. For all of us I pray that we can continue to take small steps towards living what is important to our hearts and living for that which matters most xoxo