Importance of Family

Take a pause for a few seconds and ask yourself, "Why do you work so hard?". What motivates you to do so, day after day? Most of the readers may utter a single word to answer both the question, "Family" and may lecture me on the importance of family and family relationships. But, what is a family? All of us inherit our physical attributes from our parents. However, when you start interacting with the outside world, you realize that they are not enough to ensure your success, not even your survival. When you find yourself in such a situation, what is it that sustains and supports you. The values which were passed to you by your family make your survival and growth possible. The values such as patience, care, understanding and commitment etc. instilled in you, differentiates you from the rest. If you are already a successful person, then it only underlies the importance of family and the values inherited by you.

Importance of Family
It is not difficult to uncover the importance of family. You may or may not be aware, but your family was the first school you entered, as soon as you arrived in this merciless and cruel world. "Survival of the fittest", is the golden rule in this world. In other words, 'Let the unfit perish', is the motto. When you stepped into this world, you were unfit to survive on your own and by the rule a perishable entity. However, your arrival made your family happy and they took you home and from day one, you started learning about love, care and family relationship. Your parents didn't change your wet nappies only to stop you wailing, but because you were uncomfortable with it. I think, this one single example is enough to convince you of the importance of family. If you are not, then let me know, I have an endless list of examples which I could draw on and on.

Family Relationship
Your family is the environment where you learned to use your faculties and understand and cope with the physical world. It is a time when you didn't bother with trivial things, such as the family relationship, because you knew you are the kingpin of your family. It is the place, where you learned how family relationships work, by observing your parents, grandparents, your siblings and rest of the family members deal with each other. You must have enjoyed meeting them on family vacations and family reunions and exchanging family reunion gifts with them.

With the passage of time, you matured and started taking note of other people on the fringe of your family and then of those, outside your family and how your family members interacted with them. It is this point in your life, when you learnt, what is meant by a healthy relationships and how to make a relationship last. You also noticed, how your family coped and adjusted with the ups and downs of life and time. Do you remember, whether your family exposed you to these difficult times or were you cocooned in the safety of your family totally, unaware of them.

Importance of Family: Identity
What you learned from your family becomes your value system and forms your perceptions and basis of actions. An individual is known by his or her actions. It is your family that gave you an identity. Whenever you move from one place to another, you carry your family history with you. Have you ever noticed that your opinions always confirmed to the values you acquired from your family or delved deep inside them to find the seeds of thoughts that lies at their bottom? Who planted these thoughts? What gives you courage, when you are riding the wave of fortune at its deepest trough with its crest hanging over your head like a sword.

Every individual, barring few unfortunates, are similar to the earth enveloped by its environment, which acts as a protective layer and keeps the empty space out. The earth is populated and fertile because of it. For an individual, the importance of family is incalculable.