Make the Most of Time With Your Family

I am lucky to have so many comforting memories from my youth. When we were young, my little brother and I would chase our small dog around our large back yard. After we got a bit older, our parents would take us to the beach for swim lessons. Afterwards, we would then stop by the kiosk for ice cream on the way home. Later on as teens, we would spend time with the other neighborhood teenagers, riding our bicycles in the street until it got dark. More time goes by, we grow up, and then move away. Even though you love your parents and will never stop, it is easy for families to grow away from each other. During the Christmas season, we are reminded more than ever about how important it is for us to appreciate our family and not take them for granted.

Show Appreciation for Family

Showing appreciation of family members is so important, but sadly it is not always an easy thing to do. I never had an openly loving relationship with my father, for instance. As is common with the male gender, masculinity comes into the picture and expressing feelings is difficult to achieve. We do love each other, very much, but we share an unspoken kind of love. He had the same type of relationship with his father and never let him know that he loved him until it was too late. Because of this, I made certain to take on the responsibility of making sure things didn’t end up the same way between my dad and me. Now, awkwardly, we share the “I love you son; I love you dad” moment. The relationship is not perfect by any means, but it is something we both work hard at. When it comes to my partner’s family, the situation is the exact opposite. When you come to visit you get a hug upon arrival, and you get more hugs when you depart. It does make me a bit jealous sometimes, but it does give me something to aspire to.

Priorities

Look at life this way. If you died tomorrow, your coworkers would mourn you briefly but it is a guarantee you would be replaced and the office would go on without you. On the other hand, the family you leave behind will live with the loss for the rest of their lives. They will celebrate you often and they will never forget you. Now consider how much time you spend at work in comparison to the time you spend with the important people in your life. The level of importance should be very clear regarding time spent with loved ones, especially during the holidays. My mother and my aunty organise a massive family get-together each and every year during the holidays. My dad has eight sisters and brothers…and each of those has at least two young adults of their own…and some of them have kids as well! The holidays are busy, noisy, and confused, but I can’t imagine it being any other way. It is the perfect way to spend the holidays.

Make Time

Make every effort to see your family whenever you can. If it has been awhile, then be the one to take the first step; invite your family over for a nice dinner. You should try doing this regularly. If you live a measurable distance from your family, then pick up the phone and call them. I’m sure they would love to hear from you. Spend time reminiscing, and make sure your family knows how much you value your memories of your life together. Send them a letter or even an email if you are time poor. I am always getting spam emails from my mother, the kind of humorous junk emails that are so annoying and bothersome if they were to come from anyone else. She has a hidden agenda, I believe, conscious or not, to avoid being forgotten. She uses her joke emails as a reminder that she is still around and sure enough, we get a great dialogue going and we both feel better for it.

There really is no such thing as the perfect family, as every family has its fair share of trials and tribulations. But it is the only family that you have and they will always be there for you. Try not to argue, the time we have together is short. Never leave it until too late to show your appreciation and let your family know you are thinking of them.

We have all been in a rut, locked in a pattern of circumstances that we cannot seem to get out of. Rarely do those circumstances change by themselves, it’s more likely that we will need to take action to ensure that we don’t become stuck in a rut.