This evening I went to a park to let my dog run around. There were three other women there, all varying in age (20s-40s) and somehow we ended up on the discussion of relationships as our dogs ran around.

Each woman was in a different phase of a relationship.

I was the single one.

One woman in her 30s was taking a break from her boyfriend and had moved into her own place, but they are still dating.

Another woman was in her 40s was happily married and another was going through a divorce.

We were all in different phases of our lives but could completely relate to one another through a common denominator- we all needed to work on ourselves.

After chatting with these women (all successful in their own right with great careers) the one thing we all had in common was struggling with our own problems. We all need to make time for ourselves and communicate that to the ones we love. We have to be sure we don’t lose ourselves in the process of a relationship- whether that relationship is with another person, a career, hobby, obsession, etc. We have to remember who we are and do the things that we enjoy, otherwise we will get so wrapped up in something else, we will forget about the most important person in our lives, ourselves.

Now, that may sound a bit selfish but if you think about it, it makes sense. We have to be happy and comfortable to make those around us happy and content. We will not be giving our best self if we don’t know what that is or how to achieve it. We need to take the time to do the things that we love, even if that means sacrificing a bit of a responsibility to achieve it.

Lesson learned- you need to remember who you are- do what you want to do and take time for yourself.

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