By Chris Kovatch

 

It’s crazy how much quicker time seems to pass these days. I remember as a child that a year seemed to take forever to pass and as an adult it seems to fly by. My oldest daughter turned 13 this week and that causes me to pause and assess my priorities.

When you sit back and think about the future and about your children becoming adults it is quite sobering.

Jackson and Rosie have four and five years respectively left in our house assuming they move out when they begin college.

It’s crazy to think that it seems like they were just born and will be starting their next phase of life in just a matter of years.

Daily life seems to get in the way and causes us to lose sight of the important stuff. Too often I am concerned with what meeting I have or what activity we have scheduled and my focus slowly begins to slide away from my most important priority, my family.

My goal these days is to work on improving the balance between things I think I should be doing and things I need to be doing. It is a tough line to walk and even more difficult to maintain perspective. What is the proper balance? Should I just drop all the extra stuff? What impact does it have on my family?

My hope is this: I hope the extra stuff I do and often involve my kids in is helping them grow into responsible young adults. I hope that they see that it is important to focus on things that affect people other than themselves. I hope they also see that family is important. No matter the mistakes I make or the bad choices I seem to revisit on a regular basis, my family is there for me. I want them to realize how important their family should be to them.

Sure, we get on each other’s nerves on a regular basis, and sometimes just for fun, but should a need arise we will be the first one there to lend a hand.

This week I hope you take a few minutes to just reflect on where you are at and where you are going. Do you need to adjust course or refocus on what your goals are? I know I need to do this on almost a daily basis, but my family and our relationships with each other makes this the most important thing I do.