Relationship triple-decker

"For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation."
 -- Rainer Maria Rilke

"Relationships are the central theme of a peaceful, powerful life."
"Our greatest weariness comes not from our hard work but from important work not done."
-- Eric Hoffer

When I am feeling out of sorts and questioning what's happening, I need only look inside my most important relationships to find the answers - to God and my own inner voice, to my partnership with Anne, to my relationships with my three sons, to my family connections with my parents and siblings, to my closest friendships, to my community, which includes all of you.  When these relationships are loving, whole, and complete, in other words where this is nothing missing and no conversations that are wanting to happen that aren't happening, life is peaceful and powerful.  When they're not, life feels pointless, tedious, and very tiring.  Things just don't seem to work, and I take it out on whomever I'm with at the time. 

When those negative feelings show up, it is an immediate call to action to re-focus my energy on the most important work there is to do, to express my love - without delay or excuse - such that the people who nourish my soul really feel it.  Focusing on other things because of their urgency is futile in the end because, even as a purely practical matter, there is nothing more urgent and important than the health and well-being of these relationships to having my life work.