Family Relationships – Your Guide to Establishing Healthy Relationships with Family

 

 

Families are one of the most important aspects of being human. We are all part of a family biologically even if you’re part of a family that may be dysfunctional.

 

While no family is perfect, if you’re part of a family that respects each other, cares for one another, and makes an effort to stick together, consider yourself lucky as so many people do not have much connection with their biological family members. 

 

What are Family Relationships?

 

Family relationships are your connections through birth, marriage, or adoption. Family relationships include the relationships you have with your parents, grandparents, children, siblings, cousins, etc. 

 

In a more casual setting, people have also redefined family relationships to include long-time friends, colleagues, and others who you have known for a long time.

 

Your definition of family may be subjective to your upbringing, personality, and life consequences.

How does Family Relationships affect us? 

 

Your biological family members are amongst the first people who you build relationships with. Starting from your primary caregivers, in most cases your biological parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. 

 

The relationships you build with them at such a young age have a significant impact on your attachment styles and ability to build and maintain healthy relationships as an adult. 

 

People who are part of families with healthy relationships are generally more trusting, understanding, and easy to get along with. 

 

However, If you aren’t lucky enough to have a healthy family relationship background, it doesn’t mean you can’t build and maintain healthy relationships as an adult. 

 

Other factors such as your upbringing, attachment styles, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills can impact your ability to do so.

 

Now that we understand how our family relationships affect us, let’s learn more about some common obstacles faced by today’s families in having healthy relationships with each other.

Common Obstacles to Healthy Family Relationships

 

1. Misunderstanding or Poor communication

 

One of the most common and impactful obstacles to building and maintaining healthy relationships within your family is misunderstandings mostly caused by poor communication.

 

A lot of issues faced by modern families can be solved if all members are willing to communicate more about their decisions and the reasoning behind them when it comes to things that impact other members of the family. 

 

2. Personality clashes

 

One or more members of the family can have clashing personality types just like in any other settings where relationships are required such as work environments etc. 

 

If there are multiple individuals within a family with commanding personalities, it’s highly likely to create disagreements which can lead to arguments. 

 

3. Lifestyle differences

 

Even if all family members share a common upbringing and have access to the same kind of information and guidance, at one point we all meet different friends and other outside influences that start shaping our lifestyle choices. 

 

It’s not uncommon to see some family relationships being put on the back burner due to lifestyle differences and an inability to adapt and accept each other’s differences. 

 

4. Jealousy

 

Jealousy is a human emotion we all feel. No matter how successful you are, you are bound to feel jealous of someone else at some point in life. In families, it is no different. 

 

One or more members of a family may seemingly have achieved more in life which may cause another member of the family to feel jealous and develop a dislike towards that person. 

 

5. Financial Issues

 

Finances are one of the most sensitive subjects in the world and also most likely to create conflict between people. 

 

There are so many financial aspects within a family such as who is responsible for what, how much money someone makes and how they spend it etc, that can lead to problems within the family.  

How to Improve Family Relationships

 

If your current family relationships are on the downhill or if they’ve always been toxic, below are some practical things you can do to make an effort to improve them and have better and healthier relationships with your family members.

 

1. Proper communication 

 

Proper communication with your family means taking the time to check in with them, talking to them about their life, and overall maintaining contact with them. In today’s age, it can be done in the form of calls, family chat groups, and many other ways.

 

However, it also goes beyond the general chit-chat. You should also be communicating with your family members about major life decisions and the reasoning behind them especially if your decisions may have an impact on their lives. 

 

Having difficult conversations in times of conflict resolution is also a critical part of proper communication required for building and maintaining healthy family relationships.

 

2. Empathy

 

Showing empathy towards your family members is another very important factor in building healthy family relationships. Being able to see things from their perspective and feeling how it would feel to be them under difficult situations they go through can help them understand that you truly care about them.

 

This can create a strong bond that you never thought was possible. 

 

3. Listen to understand

 

We all tend to listen just to respond with our opinions on things. However, one of the best things you can do to build healthy family relationships is to listen to your family members talk, to understand and be there for them. 

 

A lot of the time, all people want is someone to listen to their concerns and not tell them what to do. 

 

4. Spending quality time together

 

This is without a doubt one of the most impactful things on this list. Human beings are closer to people who spend quality time with them and build memories together. 

Taking the initiative to plan gatherings such as family meals and trips during holidays and special occasions can lead to more members of your family than you expected showing up and making memories together. 

 

5. Accepting differences

 

No matter how big or small your family is, there will be multiple different personalities. Some of them you get along with very well and share common interests with while others couldn’t be more different from you.

 

Learn to accept your differences and respect each other. Try to communicate the “live and let live” philosophy with them. 

 

6. Take responsibility for your mistakes

 

We all make mistakes. Maybe you forgot to communicate the details of a family event properly or didn’t do as you said you would which led to some unhappy family members. 

 

When you know the mistake was on your end, let go of your ego and take responsibility by apologizing. 

 

7. Work on self-improvement

 

A lot of the time conflict is also related to your inability to deal with things, express yourself, and be more willing to accept situations and people. 

 

By constantly working on your self-improvement through self-care, mindfulness, and meditation, you can become a better version of yourself and be there for your family in a much better way.

 

8. Express genuine love and care

 

Most of us are taught not to be too expressive of emotions. We often struggle to show emotions even when we feel them. Try to let go of this idea and become more open to showing genuine joy, love, and care towards your family members.

 

Of course, I do understand it’s easier said than done and maybe a real challenge if you’re not accustomed to it. But showing love in the form of hugs, emotional support, heartfelt conversations and so much more can help you build deeper connections with your family. 

 

Conclusion

 

While family relationships are a dynamic aspect of our lives and not easy at all, they can often be one of the most rewarding and reliable support systems for building a life of success and fulfillment.