I’ve been thinking how, at one time in my life, the ones who saw the worst of me were people I was closest to. It’s like the song.

You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all. You always break the kindest heart, with a hasty word you can’t recall.
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I’m listening to Willie Nelson sing it now. (Moonlight Becomes You)

I was young. I let my guard down with them. It was a sign of trust that I let them see my bad side. Gosh. don’t you bet they were thrilled I would do that for them?

I’m a slow learner sometimes.

Imagine if everyone dumped their bad feelings on loved ones in the name of trust.

I’m not quite sure what woke me up. When my brain and my heart finally reattached, my thinking kicked in. I realized that I was treating people I hardly knew far better than the ones that I loved. I was a success at working for a living, but not such a success at having a life.

2 Rules and a Bunch of Ideas

So I made this list that I check every Friday. It’s not written stone — more like it’s etched in ice. But it does remind me what to think about when Friday rolls around. It’s two rules and a bunch of ideas to focus on so that I leave work behind.

Two Rules

• RULE 1: Weekends are recreational or recuperative.
• RULE 2: Except in rare emergencies, all work is “want to,” not “have-to” stuff.

A Bunch of Ideas

• Plan an activity with someone I love just because we want to do it.
• Spend time listening to someone special.
• Do something spontaneous with a friend.
• Make someone laugh.
• Call someone I haven’t talked to in years.
• Learn something new with a friend or a loved one.
• Read a book.
• Take two naps.
• Make cookies. Find lots of folks to share them with.
• Do something I’ve never done before.
• Do something I’ve not done in years.
• Do something that someone else decides is important.
• Try on some gratitude and generosity

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Of course, your list might look totally different from mine . . . .

Now I let my closest people see the best of me. I like me a lot better this way. As it turns out, they seem a whole lot nicer too.