Some Thoughts on What Family Really Means

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.

Does that about cover it?

Not at all. We tend to think of our family in terms of responsibility, as in family responsibilities. The places we have to go. The people we must help. The things we must do for them. All of those duties are indeed things that must be taken care of as a family does bring with it certain obligations. We must not forget however, that family is not all about what we do for them, but for what they do 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 as the Rock of Gibraltar

When you flounder, it's not usually because you've looked around and no one was standing there to help. It's because you've been too scared or embarrassed to reach out for that help, terrified that the people around you are going to judge you.

Family is your rock, the people standing there waiting for you when you turn to them from help. When they judge, they judge with love with one hand while holding out the other. Family is a source of stability in the onslaught of a life that can seem too filled with insanity to be real at times.

What your Family is Faced with

Modern society doesn't do a lot to encourage family stability. Obstacles that can destroy your family lurk around every corner. It is your duty as a child, a parent, a spouse and an individual to understand the value of the family unit, no matter who it is that makes up that unit, and do whatever is required to hold that unit together. You will find your efforts to be worthwhile.




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