One thing that a lot of people forget is that, when things get the most hectic and an individual is feeling the most overwhelmed with what is going on, is the time they need their friends and family the most. Yet most human beings tend to try to go it alone and become distant from just those sources of comfort and assistance that they could use.
February 21, 2007
Something to Think About
I wrote the following to a friend and it struck me as a pretty good comment on people and our lives today:
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It's interesting that you, as well as so many others, talk about "friends and family," rather than "family and friends." I hear this from students all the time, so I asked them why their friends come before their family. The universal response was that friends are always there for you; family is not, a response that amazes me with its assumption.
ReplyDeletefriends don't have to accept what an individual does and can move on to other friends, but family has to make the best of any situation and is in it for the long haul. The group of friends shifts and changes, with a small cadre remaining at the core, as the individual matures and settles into their unique identity. If the circle of friends isn't working, it's actually fairly easy to move into another circle or create a new one.
The family is static, and the worst faults are always there and have to be accepted if the family comes first.
Yep, I have friends who are dearer to me than my siblings, but my immediate family, my two children, will always come first with me: no questions asked!
No slight or ulterior motive was intended. I used the "and" between the two words to indicate that both were important and should be considered equally.
ReplyDeleteI think the order of "friends and family" comes to me in that order more for the way it sounds aloud than anything else.
ReplyDeleteProbably something to do with syllables.