Are you looking forward to the coming year? What do you hope for or expect in 2013? Do you know what you want?
I hope that as you weigh your goals and intentions, you'll assign high priority to the relationships that genuinely make your life better, happier, richer, more fun and heart-felt.
We all have people with whom we're obligated to spend time, but who warms your heart? Who lightens your load? Who makes you feel accepted and appreciated for the plain old unvarnished you?
My friend Jamie makes me feel this way. We worked together for a fax machine company in the early '90s when it was my job to write the manuals (the ones nobody reads, I know) and she was assistant to my boss's boss. We shared a thousand Luby's lunches back then, and just about every one of them left me with aching sides. Jamie is one of the funniest and most sensitive people I've known.
Time and moves separated us, but now we live within thirty minutes of each other. Thirty minutes! Someone whose company makes me so happy, and she's practically in my backyard, every day!
And yet we've seen each other maybe three times in as many years.
When we do meet, she makes me feel like I'm absolutely the only person she wants to be with. We get lost in private jokes, old stories retold, planning our 2020 plastic surgery retreat (kidding!).
Jamie's the queen of one-liners. And the stories she tells about her cats -- her cats! -- make me laugh till I cry. She asks about my family with compassion and genuine interest. She thinks I'm funny too. And perhaps most importantly, she assumes the best of me. She's a relief. My heart is full.
You have a Jamie somewhere. Maybe even two or three.
So here's our challenge for this month. For yourself and for your Jamie, connect in 2013 -- beyond just a text or voice mail. Call. Commit to breaking the initial long pauses and really reminisce. Set a solid date to have lunch or dinner, whatever it takes. Then make good on those plans. As we've all been made so painfully aware this week, my Jamie and yours could be gone tomorrow.
I can't think of many more important goals than this one, but maybe you can. That's what we'll work on at my next LifeInspired session (see sidebar) -- your vision for a better life in 2013. I hope you will come, and maybe bring your Jamie with you. You can laugh together on the way home. ;)
