Relationships and value....how would you rate yourself?

In a world where we use media of all kinds to describe our most intimate details and give ourselves and hearty pat on the back for posting our latest achievement or "like'ing" or "sharing" a friend or colleagues post, are we really having and nurturing real relationships?

Yes, everyone is busy and yes, everyone uses media to communicate be it email, social media, and the never ending photo posts and pins....but as interesting and sometimes self serving as it feels (or seems at the moment) in acting or reacting so quickly and so robotically it feels like the value is lost.

I have a friend who has been estranged from his daughter and son for many years and while he now has a consistent phone and Skype conversation with his son, his daughter refuses any communication. Now mind you, there was no criminal act done and in fact he became a father at a very, very young age and wasn't always around. Her shutting him down also meant that her two young daughters were also part of the shutdown too.

Rather than use email or sending them updates via social media, my friend chose the old phone and writing simple notes to the grandkids because he truly values his relationships and deems them special enough to take the time to communicate in this fashion.

After several attempts writing the eldest granddaughter and several months of waiting, he received a very simple but beautiful note from a 9 year old telling him about her best friend, that she likes the color yellow, loves dogs and is a big reader too.

Not only was my friend surprised [he didn't expect a response] it truly made his day. He recognized that by his simple and personal attempt how it made a difference. I am glad to say that he is well on his way to building a better bridge to the future generation.

I am not saying that we all need to go back to writing personal notes but then again if we just stopped sending emails for a day or just quickly responding to every little post or tweet or pin could could it change our life or enhance the life of someone else? I think it could.

On rating myself I'd say out of a possible 10 I am a less than 5 right now in terms of personal communication. I love reading folks like Ted Rubin and his great daily posts about communication, return on relationships, personalizing brand relationships and social media - I think I'd like to try brining this to my personal life too. I think I am worth it and know some people in my life that would appreciate a personal note or call a bit more often.

Honestly how would you rate yourself in terms of your value in relationships? What simple things can you do to change how you relate??