Caring for Our Family

It may not seem like it when you’re with them every day but being with our family is good for us. These deep relationships enrich our lives and give us blessings each and every day. Yes, those blessings are happening even when the kids are fighting, the house is a mess or you’re knee deep in laundry. This is life and we can still find that peace and contentment to take in the value of our family amidst all of the other stuff.

There is a statistic in life insurance that says a married man will live longer than a single man. One of the thoughts behind this statistic is that men are thought to live less hazardously when they are married. Other health factors increase when married however including risk for obesity and heart attacks but overall men on average live longer when they are married. That statistic has not moved much in many years.

Even if we are introverts and prefer to spend a lot of time to ourselves, having family near us is good for our emotional and physical health. We have a connection to another in this world that we may not share anywhere else in our life. We have a place to be ourselves, feel safe, feel love and even be silly. Yes, having family is our lifeline. It reminds us that love is the biggest emotion, feeling, lesson and reason we are here. On good days and bad your family is where you should be able to rest your head and heart from all else in the world.

Modern Families

Not all families are healthy and some have difficult circumstances and situations that can be deeply painful and traumatic. We don’t always get along with one another either which can also turn to pain, hurt feelings and even distance from one another. All families will have disagreements from time to time and unfortunately some will have deeper hurts that can last a lifetime. The bonds of a family are very difficult to break but sometimes even they break given enough hurt.

Many families today are blended from past marriages and relationships, adoptions, and so on. What makes up a family is no longer a simple matter of two people having children. There are a lot of homes today that are multi-generational to support aging parents, help with child care or even just for financial reasons. Sometimes it works out to have all these different personalities and generations in one home and sometimes it too presents challenges that can strain even the best of relationships.

Navigating these numerous situations is not always easy. On top of these challenges most of us are working and trying to take care of every day life as well so there is lots of stress which can lead to a lack of patience, exhaustion, and irritation we can express to one another. It’s not that we don’t love each other but it’s not always easy to have the energy, focus, strength and rest to go from a stress filled work day to a busy home where no one is getting along on a particular day.

Lots of Personalities

We would all love for our family life to be pleasant all the time and it’s really nice when it is that way. Everyone is getting along, we are having fun with each other and it is just pleasant. It’s wonderful when it is easy going. Just like on TV right?