No one likes to fall behind with “things”. These “things” can be as simple as forgetting to dust off a bookshelf for a couple of months or as complex as deferring maintenance on your house.
“Things” can also include the piling up of household bills or paperwork. I mean, who wants to spend a Saturday morning sifting through updated insurance documents or filling out the US Census? I, like most people, tend to make a stack of these to-dos and tackle them only when I realize that NOT tackling them may bring about negative consequences. Plus, I, like most people, don’t always have the time to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of BEFORE it actually needs to (has to, MUST) be taken care of. As the paperwork pile grows and the dust collects, I soon realize that I feel badly that I have fallen behind and, therefore, need to catch-up on my to-do list. But what happens when we fall behind with our personal relationships?
In this post-COVID world, extended personal relationships, for many, seem to be in a perpetual state of catch-up. COVID lockdowns were long, and when we finally started to emerge, socially, most people focused on reconnecting and catching-up with family. For example, for me, Christmas of 2020 was a takeout menu and drive by schedule between each of my sisters and my parents. By Christmas 2021 we celebrated a new baby in the family and so we all took COVID tests, sanitized our hands and wore masks. It was only this past Christmas that it started to feel more like it always had been. And now, I am starting to feel that with some of my friends, I am in a place of needing to play catch-up. I recognize that I am busy with my studies and that I travel for extended periods of time, but I can no longer let my busyness be an excuse for deferring social connections with people that I care about. Simply stated, it is time to start catching-up with my friends!
However, I recognize that for many, this may not be so easy as it may feel disingenuous to suddenly suggest that you and your friend should immediately reinstate your monthly lunches. It may also feel challenging to call up your favorite group and invite them to dinner. BUT- who cares? They won’t because chances are, they may miss you and your regularly scheduled chats together just as much as you miss them. And once you reengage, you may not even remember that you even needed to focus on reengaging in the first place… Because regardless of the nature of the “thing” you fall behind with, it ALWAYS feels better when you can finally absolve yourself from FEELING burdened by having to play catch-up… HOWEVER, as I sit writing this column I do realize that there IS currently a pile of “things” that I actually enjoy playing catch-up on: My People magazines…
Gossip! Gossip!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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