You need to regularly invest in a relationship if you want to regularly get dividends from it. – @leadingguru

Is it just me or does it feel as if in our everyday lives, it’s sometimes difficult to know and to decide what comes first and  what takes priority when it feels as if everything is important.

I make lists of important things to do at work but the list just gets longer and longer. I skip gym for 2 weeks and when I go back, my fitness levels have dropped. I don’t brush my dogs and the lounge is full of dog hair. I am leaving nail polish on my nails for far too long, hoping to get away with it. I buy hundreds of books but don’t get around to reading them. Magazines are piling up next to my bed and I still have not finished reading the June edition of Shape. I am still trying to get through all the PVR’ed episodes of Gossip Girl which ended weeks ago…

But somewhere in all the middle of this mess, I have lost touch with those I love the most.

As any runner knows, you have to find time to train, to run races and to rest. If you let anyone of these drop, the others will suffer. If you don’t train, you don’t do well in races. It’s only when your body is injured that you are forced to rest. It’s a constant juggling act to ensure that you get it right.

It’s the same with relationships. Unfortunately, it’s only when something goes wrong that you realise you’ve dropped the ball. And it’s only when you realise loved ones are hurting that you realise you have not paid attention. But by then it’s too late.

There’s way too much going on in our lives to put everything first. There’s too much to do, so much to get done and so many people to keep happy. It comes down to making the right decisions, negotiating with yourself and to compromising. If you get it right, let me know…