My Thoughts On The Family Unit

It takes more than two biological parents and one or more children to make a functioning family unit.

A family is an inter-dependant organism. It thrives on sacrificial love, mutual respect, care and understanding. A good family member always puts the welfare of the other members first. A good family member weaves tight the cords of love, and holds tight to them. “I’m sorry” and “Please forgive me” and “I was wrong” are just as important phrases as the most important phrase of all, “I love you.” And, all four of these phrases need to not only be said, and said frequently and as needed, but must be shown through the actions of the individuals. Love is a verb.

A functioning family unit must have goals, both for the short-term and the long-term, that are shared by all the members. There must be an equal division of the work that needs to be done, and a clear, shared vision of where you want to go and what the family unit and goals should look like.

If, for any reason, one of the family members is not able to fulfill these sacred trusts, or is unwilling to, then all the members of the family will suffer.

A family cannot survive for long without all members pulling together. At least, not any sort of healthy survival. The harm that is done when one member, for lack of a better term, “opts out” of their responsibilities, is something that can be irreparable over time; if left long enough it will affect each and every other family member in many negative ways. Particularly the children are at risk, as they learn by what they observe, and when the cosmic axis of the family unit is off-kilter, the children are the ones who are most likely to be affected, both in the short term and in the long term. They will observe what goes on, what is said and what is done within their broken or failing family unit, and they will learn that these things they see and hear are normal, that this is the way that a functioning family unit is supposed to look, and if left long enough these learned experiences will be carried with them for life, affecting each and every relationship that they have.

For all these reasons, a family unit must function correctly; to have one do anything less than this, is to invite disaster for future generations to come.

And, to leave a broken family unit as is, is, in my humble opinion, of far greater harm than to break up a non-functioning family.

And that's my opinion.