posted by Sarah Chia

We have a master bathroom out of the pages of a magazine.  It looks just like the “before” picture in a renovation spread of Better Homes and Gardens.  I wish I could say that it was straight out of the 60′s because even that is somewhat quaint.  But over the years some changes had been made to it, and it is obvious that previous owners did just enough work to cover up the wear, but put little thought into the aesthetics.  On top of that, about a month after moving in, we realized that the shower leaks into the bathroom below, rendering it useless until we decide to fix it.

We talk about fixing it.  We put it on a list of things we need to set aside money for.  And if it were a priority for us, we could afford to do it in a DIY kind of way.

But we’ve realized that the energy it will take to do it is energy that we can spend somewhere else.  See, there’s always a give and a take.  It would take a lot of work to get the job done.  It would take time – and more importantly, energy – that I couldn’t give to the Hispanic immigrants that I help teach English to.  It would mean less time and energy for playing a game with my kids instead of plopping them in front of the TV for entertainment.

We all have an energy limit, same as we all have only 24 hours in a day.  So in my home, we’ve settled – for now – on spending our energy on a more lasting impact.  Maybe one day we’ll have the time and energy for both relationships and beautiful bathrooms.  But today, there’s a choice that must be made.  And I’m choosing relationships.

I’d love to hear….. what are you choosing to spend your energy on?