There is nothing better than having an untroubled family life that gives you a sound mind and a happy heart. For sure, everyone wants to build, nurture and be in a home that lives in harmony. One of the major keys to achieve exactly that end is making sure that there are peaceful relationships in your family.
Within the basic unit of the society, there are diverse relationships, which start from the married couple’s love and union. As the husband and wife plan to establish their family with not just the two of them but with kids, there goes the parent-child relationship. Eventually, when the family grows bigger, with one or more kids added, the sibling-sibling relationship happens. Besides these, there are relatives who are part of the extended family, and relationships with them are also valued.
This network of connections within the family tree just goes to show how one family can be really colorful and diverse because it’s not just one or two people that comprise it. There is a web of meaningful relationships in it. And as part of your own household or as somebody who dreams to build his/her own family in the future, what you definitely want is to keep these relationships intact and undamaged. You want to ensure that you’re unified.
Regardless of whether you’re a parent, a child, a husband, a wife or an extended member in the family you are in, this piece is for you, for the time now and the time to come too. Here are 10 ways to maintain peaceful relationships in your family.
1 – Promote Healthy Communication – Speak and Listen Peacefully:
Aside from trust, communication is one of the chief ingredients to rearing and guarding any kind of relationship. Through face-to-face conversations, you get to know more about each other’s personalities, attitudes and viewpoints, which is important to develop understanding towards one another. When you communicate, remember that it’s a two-way system, so be ready to speak and even more willing to listen. Holding this golden awareness, you must promote healthy communication at home.
Proper communication is honestly talking about your feelings, emotions and opinions concerning the family and at the same time, heedfully listening to your family members. Sometimes, it could be about grave matters, yet it could be just anything fun and random too. Nonetheless, having an open and non judgmental communication bolsters rapport and confidence. It allows you to live a pleasant family life, knowing that you belong to a family you can trust and that trusts you.
If the topics of conversations are serious and sensitive, communicate peacefully, without the aim of bringing down anyone or of starting fights. When you display this way of dialogue, you’re setting a very good example to the whole household. Meanwhile, you don’t always need to have family problems to communicate with each other. You can talk about just anything too, like your new favorite shows, your weekend plans or the things that annoy you at work. Your family members are also your friends.
2 – Set House Rules that Everyone Agrees With.:
Just like anywhere, regulations are created to produce and preserve peace and order at home. Set house rules that everyone agrees with. Discuss them, involving all family members, to see to it that no one is against the house decorum, or if anyone is, you can make necessary adjustments for the good of all.
When everyone in the family abides by these rules, you’re not far from achieving a happy and harmonious family life.
3 – Be Extra Understanding Of Each Other’s Differences, Flaws and Struggles:
Family members have personalities different from each other, which oftentimes is the reason why clashes happen. When all are already grown-ups, it’s sometimes hard to connect with each other’s interests and standpoints, and to be patient with one another’s shortcomings and mood swings.
Say one is in a bad mood and suddenly gets angry at home, yet you don’t know why. There’s a tendency that sometimes you also get in a bad mood because of them. When one is struggling in school, work or life in general, sometimes, there are aspects of them that get altered, such as them trying to distance themselves from you, their temper getting short, or their decision-making choices becoming poor.
To overcome the results of differences in the family, learn to be extra understanding of each other. See all sides of the situation. Before getting mad, identify the issue, if any. Put yourself in each other’s shoes. Be a strong support system. Know what you can do to help those family members who need help. Understand one another while doing something to assist them when they need a shoulder to lean on.
4 – Spend and Enjoy Quality Family Time:
Parents are getting old, and kids too. Don’t waste time hating each other or keeping the relationship stagnant. Spend and enjoy quality family time. It’s certainly one of the most precious things in the universe!
Break away from your gadgets and social media that make you alone together. Finish your school work early, then sit on the living room’s couch with the gang! Use your leave credits to set aside work and make awesome memories with the family. Amidst your busyness and various appointments, insert quality time with the family.
Play games at home. Watch films. Exercise together. Visit museums. Beautify your home garden. Bake a cake. Wash the car. Redecorate your bedrooms. Learn new skills. Travel locally or abroad. Bonding with the family is oh-so-important to know more about each other and develop a one-of-a-kind closeness.
5 – Respect Each Other’s Privacy too:
Family relationships must be tight and intimate, yet never forget that everyone has a very personal segment of life too. There are things that you’re not comfortable with sharing with other people, even with your most trusted family, because you simply want to keep it to yourself. Other family members are the same, so respect each other’s privacy.
Probably the only time you should go beyond the boundaries is when you need to step into the picture to protect or correct your loved ones for whatever needy reason.
6 – Honor Every Member’s Role in the Family:
Everyone in the family is significant. You have a purpose in it, and you’re never worthless. Honor every member’s role.
Children, highly regard and revere your parents. They have the highest authority in the family, not just because they are the eldest but most especially because they are your birth givers, providers and unconditional lovers.
Parents, take care of your children, and acknowledge their presence as a pivotal part of the family. Include them in making decisions. Listen to their ideas, thoughts and feelings. For anything that has to do with the family’s overall life, hear and consider your children’s sentiments. Age doesn’t matter when it comes to being honorable and to honoring others.
7 – Avoid Family Gossip:
Peace in the family is stained when there are quarrels in it. Family gossips are among the several causes of fights that happen exactly from family member to family member. To be specific, this is when you talk badly behind your relative or the other way around. No strangers are the main characters of the issue but you yourselves.
Avoid family gossip because it can be harmful. Spreading false rumors about your relatives is extremely rude. Even when you’re telling facts, if you’re speaking ill of them without them knowing, it’s not good. What’s more, they might eventually find out that you’re not being true to them but rather you’re bringing them heartaches. It can hurt not only the people directly affected by the negative tales but also other family members who care for them.
Believe it or not, there are families that use their own lawyers, filing charges against each other, because of such offensive acts, and that’s just so sad.
8 – Fix Family Arguments together:
No family is perfect. Arguments happen, and they’re not something new. There are times of misunderstandings and conflicts, big and small, but these are oftentimes tests to prove your bond and to strengthen it a lot more times!
Fix family arguments together. Don’t settle things on your own. Reach out for reconciliation, and when you’re being reached out to, be receptive. Don’t let wounds grow deeper. Mend broken family relationships while you can. These are easier said than done, but with cooperation and desire to be at peace with each other, it’s not impossible!
9 – Don’t Hold Back Appreciation:
Be grateful to and for your family. Don’t hold back appreciation when you want to give it away. Thank your loved ones for their love and care and for the efforts blossoming from these. Speak gratitude, and show it through simple tokens and most importantly, through kind actions.
10 – Nurture Your Family’s Faith in God:
Peace is a promise that God keeps. Bring yourself close to God, and bring your family close to Him. Nurture your family’s faith in God. He gives joy, hope and peace to every heart and to every home. The more you and your family serve and praise Him, the more you will hold dear your family and the harmony in it. The Prince of Peace, He is.
PEACE AND HARMONY:
Some families are small, while some families are really big. Most of the time, calling each other ‘family’ is because of the same surnames, middle names and bloodline, but it must be more than just that. It must be about treating one another as family should be, which includes caring and loving for each other no matter the age and distance now or in the future. And as written above, this also includes fostering peaceful relationships within the family.
Having peace at home does not merely mean that the place is quiet and undisturbed. It refers to having delightful and gentle relationships with one another. It signifies understanding and being there for the other through smooth and rough roads in life. Because peace is not always the absence of chaos but sometimes the presence of resilience and ability to withstand trials, a peaceful family life is also about being able to fix problems and to surpass them all as a team.
At the end of the day, it’s the family that remains inevitable and irreplaceable. Cherish your time with them by establishing, encouraging, sustaining and protecting peaceful relationships in your family!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Ann Pore is a writer, an events host and a voice over artist. Quality and well-researched writing is her worthwhile avenue to enlighten and delight others about things that matter. She is a daytime writer for Adams Lawyers, a team of professionals that offer well-rounded service for all legal needs. Nicole graduated Cum Laude from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts.
