Your Family & Friends

This is the sixth in my series of M.A.D. Moments based on different areas of your life, to inspire you or give you that boost at the start of the year.

What do your Family and Friends mean to you?

• How often do you see your parents (if still alive)?
• Do you have a circle of close friends?
• How often do you see members of your family?
• Do you have a good relationship with your children?
• Do you have a best friend who you see/speak to often?

This week is about focusing on the important people in our lives. When we're busy thinking about balancing our life and fitting everything in, we can often neglect those close to us because they're always there. I'm not saying we ignore them but maybe we don't always give them the attention we'd like to. Maybe our closest friends have moved away, we don't see members of our family as often. “Oh, I'll call X next week...or meet X for lunch” and then next week becomes next month and then next year ....

Friendships have to be nurtured in order to survive. We all have friends that maybe we don’t see so often but with whom we can reconnect at any time and it’s as if we’ve never been apart. In these days of cheap phone calls and the internet, it’s even easier to keep in touch with those friends further afield. I use Skype and MSN to stay in regular touch with friends I wouldn’t otherwise speak to except occasionally.

Friends come and go during the course of lives. There will be friends that we’ve known since childhood and friends that we’ve know at different stages of our life and still keep with us. Make a point of only having people around you who respect and support you.

Action:

What difference could you make to your Family & Friends this week?

• Who in your family haven't you spoken to in a while? Not just on a "Hi, how are you, OK fine..." type way but really genuinely wanted to know how they are.
• Make a point of phoning up someone you've been meaning to talk to but haven't quite got round to, or write that letter or email you've been meaning to send. Set aside time this week to spend with the important people in your life. Not just the time you would normally spend together, at the beginning or end of the day or helping the children with their schoolwork but something different.
• Re-evaluate your relationships with your friends. Do you have friends who don’t serve you or who always seem to want something from you? If your friends are worth knowing then make the effort to spend time or talk to them.

Enjoy the time spent with your family and friends this week.