Monday, 12 September 2011

There is More to Family Than Meets the Eye

By Ryan Letterman


Taken at face value, the meaning of the word family is patently obvious. Family consists of your relatives, of course. The people you have known every day of your life, the ones you wake up with each morning, the ones with whom you spend all the days of your early life. It is the center of your life and what your life is built on, that forms your day and motivates you to do what you do.

That should cover it, yes?

Here's the thing. When we think of our family we tend to think in terms of responsibilities. Places we need to be. People we need to help. Things we need to do. There's nothing wrong with that. Being part of a family does bring with it certain obligations. What we forget all too easily is that being a part of a family isn't always about what we do for our family. It's also about what our family does for us.

Family Life Assists in Your Development as a Person

Families are there to guide the children, yes. But those children are also instrumental in guiding their parents or guardians down roads they never knew they would take, just ask any parent or guardian and they will concur. Family erects the framework to assist you in making the difficult choices in life, pushing you to places you never imagined you could go, while at the same time keeping you loyal to the family, the ones who love you most.

Family Makes You Stronger

There's a quote floating around out there that states that you never know how strong you can be until being strong is the only choice you have. Family is what gives you the strength to be strong, and family is what puts you in the position to have to discover how strong you can really be. Family is more than just a word. It's a foundation.

Family Offers a Rock to Stand On

If you are out there flailing around without a rudder, it is not because you are alone and no one is there to give you assistance. It is because you are too terrified or too proud to reach out for assistance, afraid that people will judge you harshly.

Family is your own personal slab of granite, the people who are always there for you when you ask them for help. True, they may pass judgment, but they do so with love and encouragement. Family is a stable haven in the storm of life that can seem so insane at times as to border on surrealism.

The Trials Facing Your Family

Today's society isn't built to encourage stable family units. There are obstacles hiding behind every corner waiting to tear your family apart. It's up to you, as a child, as a spouse, as a parent and as a person to recognize the value of the family unit and take the steps to keep it together.




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