{"id":176,"date":"2010-07-11T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2010-07-11T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=176"},"modified":"2010-07-13T11:13:49","modified_gmt":"2010-07-13T16:13:49","slug":"neglecting-those-important-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"Neglecting Those Important to Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Lee Kravitz was laid off from his job as editor of Parade<\/em> magazine he decided to reassess his life.\u00a0 Although just fifty-four, this self-professed workaholic discovered he had become disconnected from people in his life that really mattered to him.\u00a0 These thoughts were triggered while looking through a box of mementoes, reflecting on the things he should have done, but didn\u2019t.\u00a0 With his wife\u2019s blessing, Kravitz decided to devote the next year to completing unfinished business, which resulted in his book Unfinished Business: One Man\u2019s Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Things.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kravitz traveled the world, seeking out those he felt he needed to see.\u00a0 He visited an old friend who is now a monk, repaid a $600 loan to another, forgave a high school bully, reconnected with a mentally ill aunt, fulfilled a promise to an underprivileged boy, said thank you to a teacher who mentored him, and the list goes on.\u00a0 Along the way he met some interesting people which opened doors for more personal and spiritual growth.<\/p>\n

In a Reader\u2019s Digest interview <\/a>Kravitz says, \u201cEvery experience was just so much richer than I could have imagined.\u00a0 I rediscovered the parts of myself that were compassionate, sensitive, and adventurous.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kravitz must have had a hefty severance or an advance on his book in order to be able to afford to take a year for this mission.\u00a0 Most of us don\u2019t have that kind of time or money, but this book is a reminder not to neglect those who are most important to us.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need lots of money to make a phone call, write a note of appreciation, send a sympathy card, email a friend, repay a kindness, or just say the words \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d or \u201cthank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The great apostle Paul was not above being appreciative.\u00a0 In a letter to the Romans Paul takes the time to openly thank those who held a special place in his heart. (Romans 16:1-16)\u00a0 This is not just a list of names for Paul takes the time to mention why these people are special to him. Phoebe had been a help to many people including Him.\u00a0 Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives\u00a0for him. Andronicus and Junia were in prison with him.\u00a0 Rufus was like a mother to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only was he appreciative of what they had done for him, but for what they had done for the church.\u00a0 Epaenetus, Urband, Stachys, Apelles, etc. were fellow workers approved by Christ.\u00a0 And he was not above giving praise to women during an historical time when women were more to be seen than heard.\u00a0 Mary, Persius, Tryphena, Tryphosa (maybe they were twins?), and so on \u2013 all worked hard in the Lord.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

How many of us have been touched by the lives of others but neglect to let them know? \u00a0We don\u2019t have to wait for years to go by or to be laid off going through a memory box to have an epiphany like Kravitz did. \u00a0If special friends and certain family members are important to us we can develop a daily habit of letting them know.\u00a0 Some ideas might be writing a note of appreciation, visiting a sick friend, sending a card of encouragement, repaying a debt, forgiving an oversight, making amends, reconnecting, or just telling someone you love them.\u00a0 You might not get a book deal out of it and make lots of money, but your life will be richer for the effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Lee Kravitz was laid off from his job as editor of Parade magazine he decided to reassess his life.\u00a0 Although just fifty-four, this self-professed workaholic discovered he had become disconnected from people in his life that really mattered to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}