The Most Important Work

Pregnant with N nearly a decade ago, a client gave me a wooden sign with this quote. At the time, I questioned the quote. How could the most important work I do be within the walls of my own home when I had a living to make? Besides, I was a teacher – that was undoubtedly important also, no?

I hung the sign in my living room anyway, and in the living room of the next three homes I’ve lived in. I have read that quote every day for the last decade, but it wasn’t until recently when it suddenly made sense.

The most important work you will ever do will ALWAYS be within the walls of your own home. It will be the work you pour into your family, your relationship, and yourself.

It has taken me years of therapy and a journey of self-discovery to recognize the importance of the work I do at home with my family. The person I am today is far different than the person who received that quote as a gift ten years ago.

I am older, sure – a fact I heard over and over through my second pregnancy. But I am also more mature, patient, kind, and loving. This didn’t happen by accident. It took years of therapy and a constant desire to always be better. Not better than anyone else, but better than who I was yesterday. It took grueling and sometimes painful work. The most important work.

I am still a work-in-progress. I will always be a work-in-progress. But because I am willing to put in the work to rethink all of the messages I carry with me from childhood and previous experiences, I am showing up better than yesterday every day.

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