Have you
ever felt like your family members just do not appreciate you? Do you go above
and beyond for certain friends or family and they seem very unappreciative. If
you have ever felt this way then you are not alone and you are probably correct
in how you feel. The next question would be why do we allow certain people
within our lives to treat us this way? Or perhaps the best question is why do the
ones who are suppose to love us the most continue to be extremely disrespectful
to us in general. The answer to this is actually easier than you think.
People who
have high tendencies to disregard the people closest to them often do it because
they feel that there are no consequences. In other words, that family member
who is being negative towards you, may simply be doing it because they assume that you are
family and you will always be there. It is a known fact that many of us are
guilty of hurting the ones we love the most, simply because we secretly believe
that they will never leave us. This is also one of the main reasons (in addition to personal low self-esteem) why someone
who is unfaithful to their spouse may continue that behavior even after their
mate finds out. They often take for granted what they have and they are under
the “false” impression their significant other will always greet them with open
arms.
Is this
philosophy correct? Do families stay together out of pure necessity? Can
families actually be torn apart because they lack respect towards the people closest to them? The answer to these questions often vary from
person to person. Each of us have different tolerance levels. However, one thing
remains to be true. Whether you are the victim or the victimizer, everything
grows old. We all have our breaking points and just because you are related to
someone does not mean they will automatically “always” be there for you. Some
people will read this and still believe that this is not true because their
minds are suddenly thinking about a ""particular" person that they are currently taking advantage of, and
that person may still be standing by him or her. But for how much longer? 5, 10, 20 more years? Most of us are taught that family comes
first. And if we ditch our family then
we are suddenly the bad people, regardless of how mean or nasty that individual
has treated us.
Each of us
has a breaking point and eventually, regardless of how thick you may believe
the blood in your family is, it is inevitable that treating any person bad will put a heavy strain on the relationship and eventually destroy it.
As we are
heading towards a new year and a celebration of new beginnings, find it in your
heart to especially treat those who are close to you with respect. Honor them
and cherish them, because one day, there is a big chance that they will no
longer be your scapegoat. But, if you are being victimized by family members
and it is disrupting your physical well –being, bring this up to that
particular family member (s). If they do not change their ways, distance may be the
best solution for the sake of keeping
yourself afloat.
"Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)."
RELATED TOPICS:
Written By: Te-Shandra Haskett, MBA
