The family, the most basic social unit, the essence of a group made of individuals and individuals making a group.
It should be so simple, so easy. The family isn’t so big, compared to a school, organization, company, city, state, country, world. The family is made up of people that theoretically love each other, care for each other. They know each other so well. Learn how to communicate and learn from each other.
Yet it isn’t so easy, it isn’t so simple, it isn’t perfect. Many family’s have difficulties. From external forces pushing in on them causing stress, like jobs. school, finances, debt, friends, politics. To internal struggles like doubt, fear, inadequacy, insecurity, expectations, failures, defensiveness, anger. To interpersonal struggles like resentment, bitterness, jealousy, miscommunication, loneliness, disconnect, being confrontational, passivity. Even at the family level, it’s sometimes difficult to “love” each other, embrace and respect each other’s individualism but also be together, move as one, and forgive each other in grace and compassion.
And we wonder why we as a society as a whole can’t seem to get along or work together when even at the most basic level of a family it’s not easy but there are so many things we need to learn from our family dynamics, overcoming and persevering our own interpersonal and relational struggles.
What we can take away is persevering in love. That love prevails. Knowing that we love each other is what can get us through those difficult moments. That whatever hurt was caused by our family member, neglect or alienation that they’re inflicting, it was at some point in their life caused on them, that they’re still feeling the remnants of. There is no better person to understand with compassion, empathy and grace than the person closest to you, but there is also no one you can inflict the greatest pain on than the person closest to you.