What can you do to nurture your important relationships?

This is the prompt for today and I really like it. First things first - determining which relationships are important.


My marriage
My daughter
My mother & step-father
My father & step-mother
My in-laws (love them btw)
My friends & neighbors
My aunts, uncles, and cousins
My step-grandmother
My coworkers


Wow, that's a lot of relationships. I struggle with adding my church b/c that's a bit of a shaky area right now. I'm contemplating changing churces so we'll just see how that develops.



I think it really all comes down to "focus" on the relationships. I feel like I spent much of the last year in a fog - a fog of stress, depression, exhaustion - just going through the motions. I know I enjoyed the moments but I know I wasn't as present as I should have been. Now, let's get specific.

My marriage: kiss more; smile more; flirt more
My daughter: be present; play more inside the house (I always get distracted by all the other stuff I "should" be doing)
My mother & step-father: call at least once a week; send cards; send pictures
My father & step-mother: call at least once a week; send art from DD
My in-laws: Send pictures; more emails or phone calls
My friends & neighbors: Call more often, at least once per month; wave & say hi...chat a while.
My aunts, uncles, and cousins: cards, emails, facebook
My step-grandmother: send pictures, cards, and artwork
My coworkers: exhibit patience; provide a listening ear; pay attention to them...not my email.

We don't live near any of our family or most of our friends. I'm so grateful for email, facebook, youtube, skype, and the USPS to keep our relationships strong.