***What is Really Important to You?

I was driving my children home from school and said to my oldest, “Remind me to take out the trash”. She responded, “Well Mom, that isn’t all that important to me”.

Well how honest is that statement. With her response, I started to contemplate What is Really Important. Everyone makes choices and takes actions based on What is Important to themselves at that moment. The more in alignment with their personal values, the more consistent the choices and actions are with their values. And, the individual is more predictable and trustworthy. As I grow and change, what is important to me changes. And, being very clear about my personal value system allows me to make the best choices for my family and myself. Each day I am offered many opportunities to expend time, money, and my energy – I need to use discernment to determine the best use and allocation of my precious resources.

Looking at the main areas of Self, Family / Friends, Work and Community, what is important to you? One aspect of Self is Health, how do you define feeling and being healthy? One person may not think much about their health, they are relatively healthy with no physical, mental, or emotional concerns. Another person may be all consumed with their health, concerned about every symptom. What actions do you need to include in your life to be healthy? For one person, it may mean running a marathon, while someone else may be walking around the block. As someone that has experienced a lot of time very ill, my goal is to remain balanced and maintain my overall feeling of well-being, one of my main priorities self-care. Family as an example, roles changed from child, to single adult, to in relationship, to parent, to parent’s care giver – so does how much time and resources are dedicated to Family. As a child, your role and actions were defined by your caregivers. As an adult, you had more freedom of choice. Some people spend the majority of their time with their family. So, they allocate a larger portion of their resources to Family. Well other people are fine to see their family at the holidays. So, their allocation to Family may be much smaller. Both people agree family is important, but they choose to allocate their resources differently. Within Community, let us look at Friends, I am not referring to your Facebook friends, I am referring to your direct support network.

Keep in mind, not one person can fulfill all your needs. That is why it’s important to have a well-developed support network. Understand that each person has a unique skill set. Your task oriented go to person, may not be able to provide emotional support. Or maybe, your logical friend isn’t going to be the spontaneous lets go out and dance the night away friend. That’s ok, appreciate your supporters for who they are and they will do the same. Our work life can consume a lot of resources. Living in passion is wonderful, motivating, and life changing. Without passions, you may feel without purpose, leading to a feeling of listlessness and depression. The other side, passions can be all consuming, taking priority over Health, Family, and Friends. I love being with people that incorporate their Passions in a balanced life. Listening to someone speak about their passion, the energy is infectious, spreading hope and giving permission for others to live a passionate, purpose driven life. Remember each person you are interact with is also making the same discerning choices.

For example, asking a friend to lunch, both parties need to agree it is important enough to create time in their schedules and meet for lunch. So, when your friend chooses to not meet you for lunch, that is OK, their priorities may be different then yours for this moment. Don’t take it personal, find some compassion as we are all trying the best way to fit everything into 24 hours. Manage your time, so that you can be present to the people and your obligations. Avoid double scheduling if possible, this will reduce to need to multi tasking and overwhelm. If you choose to attend your child’s soccer game, put your phone down and enjoy the game. If you choose to meet your friend for lunch, actually talk with your friend and make eye contact. If you choose to attend a yoga class, breath and enjoy yourself. Whatever you choose to do with your precious resources… fully be present to this task and then be fully present to the next task.

Enjoy your day! - See more at: http://www.simpleabundantwellness.com/blog/#sthash.jco93KrD.dpuf