The other day was my wife’s birthday, and I had high hopes of making it a very special day for her. Although I believe in making your spouse a priority, my track record of birthdays and other big occasions for her has been less than ideal, but not this year. It was going to be different. Well, I am sad to say it was probably one of the worst birthdays she ever had!
This is not what I had planned…
I would like to say that it wasn’t my fault, and that I tried, but I am realizing I don’t always make my spouse a priority like I think I do. At the end of my wife’s birthday she spent over half of her day, 12+ hours, watching basketball and traveling in the car. Let me just say it didn’t go completely as I had planned.
The part that was planned was going to our daughter’s state basketball tourney, and afterwards heading to my parent’s house to drop off our three kids for 2 days, so my wife and I could celebrate her birthday. The unplanned part was a snow storm that made the expected 2 hour drive from the game to my parents house, turn into a 5 hour drive on snow-covered roads, and had us stuck there for the night.
Had my track record been better when it comes to birthdays, I may have gotten a “pass” for this one. But as I said, my history of birthday celebrations is bad, and my wife was hurt. What is ironic about it all is we decided that in 2014 our focus the entire year would be on making people a priority, starting with one another. That is our mantra for the year, and like most people and new goals, I failed before we got to February.
Are our priorities out of order today?
I have been guilty of losing focus on what is important, as many other people have. We have so many things in our lives today. Work, to-dos, our kids activities, and our very own activities. When we aren’t careful they can erode what is most important in our lives, our relationships. Hopefully my transparency will encourage you to refocus your priorities, and make people a priority in 2014, starting with your spouse.
Below is a great video, a short-film, which captures what can happen when your priorities are out of order, and you don’t make your spouse a priority. The video itself (not including credits) is about seven and a half minutes, and well worth your time. I encourage you to make the time, and if possible, be sure to watch it with your spouse.
That video was an eye opener. My wife of almost 38 years and I are usually “in tune” with each other, but there are occasions when what we are doing at the moment is more important than taking care of each other’s needs. The video was a good “wake up call” not to let that happen. Thank you.
My pleasure, Hal! These wake up calls are needed for us all.
Love the video and post, Jackie. For me, I have been really thinking lately about quality time versus more time. I have always wanted more time, but first I need to make sure I am doing well with the time we have. That’s my focus in 2014 – more quality time. Thank you for this reminder.
Thanks, Adam! “More quality time”…I like it!
Jackie – thanks for sharing our content. We logical, task oriented, career-driven men and women need this reminder from time to time. Very relevant in this day and age. It’s easy to miss the mark on how to align our priorities and the fallout can be severely damaging to our relationships. But when we take time to align them just right, the fruit is oh so sweet!
Keep at it brother, love your content.
-Phil
Thanks, Phil! It is my pleasure to share your films, they are going to help a ton of people!
Powerful video. Thank you Jackie.
My pleasure, Leo!