What Really Matters?

This is a question only you can answer. Often, the answer gets buried in our daily to do lists, work, adult tasks, like paying the bills or cooking dinner. Can you relate?

I was talking with three of my friends yesterday in a group text. They are all working moms with young children. One of them shared that she was working on a difficult adult task and felt guilty because she felt she should be enjoying one on one time with her child instead. I told her to just ask herself what’s more important right now; that it sounds over simplified, but it’s really quite liberating. I shared that one of my biggest life regrets is that I put work and adult tasks ahead of Jasmine when she was little.  You never get that time back.  I went back to work three months after giving birth. WHY?!? It’s the American way. In Europe, it’s normal to take a year off work; in Canada two years.  I wish I could go back in time and ask myself “what really matters right now?”

I can’t change the past, but I can ask myself that question today, and every day forward. So can you. 

Do you have beautiful little faces looking up to you wanting to play? Can you do the adult tasks later, when they are asleep? What’s more important right now? 

Are you exhausted? Do you really need some rest and filling up your own cup right now so you have something in your tank? I’ll bet the answer to both these questions is yes.

So what do you do? Start saying no to things that really don’t matter, and saying yes to the things that do. (More on this in a future post on boundaries).

Do you really have to take an hour to cook tonight? Can you heat up a casserole or leftovers you wisely froze earlier?  How about using up some of that canned soup you bought on sale at Costco? Serve it with toast or a grilled cheese sandwich. Have your children help you, even if they are little, especially if they are little! Make the tasks age appropriate. They can put the bread in the toaster, or open the can of soup and pour it in the pot. This gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment, because they are helping mommy, or daddy. It is shared time together and they learn that being a family is helping each other, working together and spending time together. It teaches them that Mom is not responsible for doing everything for them.

Folding laundry can be a shared experience. Make it fun. Make it meaningful.  Use it to talk to your preteen or teen about what’s going on in their life. Tell them you love them. Ask them what really matters to them.

The intention of this blog, of Finding God in Gourmet, and all my content is to take you along with me on my journey of striving to live an extraordinary life, so you can live one too!  

If you find it helpful, please share it with your friends. Leave a comment and let me know what you are struggling with, or what you want to hear more about. Let me know how I can serve you because that is what really matters to me right now!!!