What Matters Most

“I don’t really care” is my first response to many questions these days. Like the book, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”, right now, due to a medical issue in my family, almost everything seems like “small or unimportant stuff”.
Why does it take a situation where someone in your immediate family has a major issue (such as a sickness) to get people to realize that all that really matters in life is the relationships we have with the people closest to us?
If a family member is very ill, it’s almost impossible to think about anything else for days, weeks, or even months while the battle is going on. When put in this situation great clarity is shown to us.

For me, as I go through some family issues, I don’t really care about many things that I used to:
I don’t care to watch much television, much less what program is on.
I don’t care if my favorite Chicago sports team wins or losses.
I don’t care about if I lose a lunch time basketball game or hit a bad golf shot.
I don’t care about the weather.
I don’t care what’s going on in other parts of the world, let alone what is happening outside of my family. The ‘News’ has never meant so little to me.

I do care deeply about the people in my inner circle and those relationships mean EVERYTHING to me. My family, true friends, neighbors and clients and that’s about it while I’m in crisis mode. One of my goals is to focus more on these relationships all the time and start to prioritize my valuable time much more conscientiously. I’m blessed to have them in my life and to have fostered the relationships I have with them and with my ever growing relationship with God.

My suggestion is to not wait until there is a major issue with someone you care deeply about to focus on your critical relationships. Don’t let the television or other meaningless things get in the way of scheduling time to be with the people you care about most. It’s hard to not get distracted in today’s society. It will take a focused effort by you to take back your time and redirect it toward the things you prioritize.

I have rededicated my focus to scheduling time on strengthening those relationships even more. It shouldn’t take a crisis situation or serious illness to get us all to focus on our most important relationships. Don’t wait, the clock is ticking.

In Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life (my favorite book) he says: