Are You On Your List?

Do you struggle with making yourself a priority? Are you always putting the needs of your spouse, kids, pets, parents, neighbors, mailman, second cousins and the rest of the living world in front of your own needs? Do you forget to stop and rest? Do you feel guilty when you take a nap, a hot bath, or go to the spa? (Heck, do you even remember what those things are?)

While it is true that you need to put your own oxygen mask on before you assist your child on a crashing airplane, that’s not even what I’m talking about here. What I want to know is if you’re putting your oxygen mask on at all. 

We once heard someone standing outside a pizza shop say to their friend, “I feel like the only time I see you anymore is when I click like on your Facebook post.”  

You guys. It does not have to be this way. Even in the busy world of parenting, you can and should have time for friendships and for yourself. And the funny thing is… when you prioritize relationships (including the one you have with yourself), that busy calendar is going to be a lot easier to manage.

This January, we want to take you through a challenge that will have a positive influence on your community by focusing on taking small, but intentional, steps to stronger friendships with three people in your life. Let’s make a list.

Someone Old.

Not in age, but in friendship. Think of someone you’ve known for many years that has been a friend in good times and bad and put them on your list. Now, depending on where life has taken you, ‘many years’ might be described as 30 or as 3. Perhaps you still talk often, or maybe you’ve grown apart because the busyness of life (or distance) got in the way. Whatever your circumstances, it takes a long time to make new old friends, so let’s spend some time in January talking about how to keep those friendships strong throughout the demands of life.

Someone New.

Making new friends ain’t easy. Especially if you’re an introvert with a busy schedule already. But oh is it important to continue to build new friendships as parents. Even more so if you don’t have many (or any!) friends that live nearby to start with. We could go on and on and on about why having a community around you is so important (and we will), but for right now, I want you to think of someone you’ve met recently that you’ve been wanting to get to know better. And I want you to put them on your list.

You.

That’s right. It’s time to put you on the list. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Haha.) Really though… what we want you to see this January is that you can serve others while also serving you. If putting yourself at the top of your priority list sounds impractical and too high of a hill to climb, will you at least agree to put yourself somewhere on your list that isn’t at the bottom? Because we all know that you rarely make it to the bottom of your list before something, or someone, pops up in the middle.

So Let’s Do the Thing.

Are you in? #areyouonyourlist? Have you thought of someone #oldnewandyou? Then here’s allllllll you have to do to commit to building stronger relationships this January.

Follow us on Instagram.

Yes, it’s that simple. Follow us on Instagram and you’ll get daily inspiration through our posts. You’ll get weekly encouragement from Amy & Audrey on Thursday afternoons via Instagram Live. And you’ll get to encourage others by using the hashtags #areyouonyourlist and #oldnewandyou on your own posts. While most of this content will also be available on Facebook, you will surely be missing out if you’re not following along on Instagram because a lot of the fun will be happening in our Instastories too!

So get excited. Share with your friends. And let’s be better together in 2019. Talk more soon!