One of the most important elements to living life as the masterpiece God created you to be is healthy relationships. Relationships are one of the greatest resources God has given us to enjoy a happy and fulfilled life. Healthy relationships with family and friends will bring you great joy and fulfillment. Let those relationships become unhealthy and they will equally become a source of frustration.

1. The Necessity of Growth For Healthy Relationships

Many of us make the mistake of thinking that while a relationship is going well we no longer need to invest in it. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you wait until an apparent healthy relationship is in trouble to focus energy into building and growing it, it will often be too late to rebuild. Healthy relationships require the necessity of continual investment in its growth. Like every area of our lives, you cannot coast uphill! Interestingly enough, the most important time to build your relationships is when it seems that it’s not necessary to do so. Here are two ways to assure that your relationships on your Life Palette not only get healthy but remain healthy:

• Consistent Attention

Whatever gets your attention gets your life; that is your energy, love and support. Whatever (whoever) does not get your attention will experience neglect.

• Constant Care

Healthy relationships must be nurtured and developed. Never assume that your relationships don’t need care or that friends and family just understand that you are too busy to invest time and attention into them. All of us know intuitively that how we invest our time and energy is a values choice – what we value we choose.

2. Be Deliberate About Healthy Relationships

In our careers and businesses we develop a deliberate strategy for success, we must likewise develop a deliberate strategy for creating and maintaining healthy relationships on our Life Palette. God has created you with potential that is still unrealized and untapped. You know it and you desire to fulfill that God-given potential as His masterpiece every day of your life. Potential is never realized alone, it is always a journey that includes others through healthy relationships.

Next Steps

Write out a list of the top relationships that you need to invest in the most through consistent attention and constant care. Name one action that you can take today to do so. Investing in healthy relationships brings the greatest returns in life. The most important relationship we must invest in is our relationship with God.