As summer enters its final month, my lone tomato plant is trying to take over my front porch. Stray branches are reaching for the front door and tickle my visitors as Tomato1

they approach. Tiny green tomatoes hold the promise of juicy deliciousness.  We keep trying to contain and harness the wild enthusiasm Tomato2but refrain from cutting it back for fear of losing some bit of richness.

My life is way too much like that tomato plant! I have had a wonderful summer filled with my granddaughter’s high school graduation, visits from my four grandsons (ages 8 -16) and my daughter, a couple of weekend excursions to wonderful places in Colorado as well as a major trip to San Francisco for an International Transactional Analysis World Conference.

The longer trip was fantastic. We drove from Colorado to California listening to great books while drinking in beautiful scenery. The conference itself was a feast of old and new connections from nearly every continent. The content was stimulating and learning about the good things our colleagues are accomplishing using Transactional Analysis was inspiring.

Happily, although only about 25% of our participants had English as their first language, our presentation on “Rapid Script Redecision Using Logosynthesis” was well received.

We also managed to finish redecorating our bedroom and wonder of wonders, acquire a new refrigerator—our first in over 40 years. Sometimes it does make sense to replace something even when it is still working. But, like the tomato plant, it takes more space than I was prepared for. It also takes more attention because I don’t automatically “just know “where things belong.

The branches of my life are going in all directions and ideas are popping out like the clusters of little tomatoes. There are so many options for where to use my time and energy. My top priority is relationships and my summer has absolutely fed that desire. I am filled up.

My other needs, to be creative and to have quiet time, have fallen by the wayside. The relationship richness has stimulated loads of new possibilities. I have not decided yet which ones to prune and which to nurture.

I have noticed that my clients are facing similar dilemmas. Life is full and rich; the problem seems to be making time for relationships, a priority many of them have neglected. One of the books I brought to the conference, Being Happy Together: How to Have a Fabulous Relationship with Your Life Partner in Less Than an Hour a Week, sold surprisingly well. It is the core of the Being Happy Program in book form and has been available on Amazon.com for a while. They are both great tools for revitalizing relationships.

May your life be as filled with blessings as mine is.

Warmly,

Laurie

PS If you need to make your relationship a priority after a busy summer, especially as the demands of fall and then the holidays are approaching, check out both resources. You may want all the goodies in The Being Happy Program or perhaps just the core of the program in book form will work best for you. Investing just a little time in your most important relationship every week will make a big, important difference in your life. I guarantee it.  

PPS Here is a link to my Amazon.com author page where you can easily link to all my available print books and ebooks.