Family is that inner circle that holds our deepest desires, fears, and memories. Everyone has a family of some sort and they all change so much throughout the years. Most families span four or five living generations of amazing experiences. How often do we look back at these folks with appreciation and thanks? They helped us grow from crawling on the floor to becoming the awesome people we are now. Let’s see if we can give back a little more than we’re used to.
This post is part of a 14 part series on How to Be a Better Person. I’ve also super-duper fancied this group of posts up into an Amazon Kindle book. Check it out: Forget Perfect, Just Be Better: 101 Simple Ways to Grow in Relationships, at Work, in Life, and Through God.
1) Dining, No Whining
Family dinners were always great. Sure, you had a few snafus from time to time, but overall they were a wonderful time to catch up on old memories and see how things were going. But what about that last time you went out with only your dad or mom alone? Or what about your brother or sister? If it’s been a while, you might not remember how intimate and awesome these experiences can be.
There’s a huge break in the family dynamic when the kids leave the house for college, work, marriage, or the next big thing. Those bonds and comfort zones are immediately changed to something much less immediate. Something much less tangible and personal. Something distant, less frequent, and not as, well, family oriented. This is the logical next step in growing up, but how many of us take an extra step to refresh the bonds that got us where we are?
Just Be Better: Pick up the phone and ask a close family member out to dinner. Think of a couple of things to talk about ahead of time and plan to enjoy the heck out of it. Use this as a time to explore, grow, and see what their next step is. This is all about them. Oh yeah, and make sure you pay for the meal.
The bonds that bind us are the ones that made us. Respect the love.
Gary says
I think that this is the biggest thing of all that we sure to be missing a lot out lately. I would often remind myself that if not for my family I wouldn’t be where I am now.