"If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." George Bernard Shaw

When you the hear the word 'family,' what is the first word that comes to your mind? Do you think sweet, happy thoughts that are caught up in a whirlwind of love, compassion, giving, trust, connection and general warmth OR, sadly, do you instantly cringe and spiral downward in a sea of regret, sadness, shame, loss, and the like...?

Having a family, especially one that loves and cares for you, is one of the biggest blessings anyone could ever AND you can get it by virtue of being born. Sure you can create your own family, physically, or you can create family atmospheres through friends, facebook, co-workers, church members etc. but you never choose your parents, siblings, cousins....unless you count marrying into a great family but that is cheating. To have a good family is to be lucky, plain and simple.

And yet, as Spiderman knows, "with great family, comes great responsibility." As with any type of love, how much you receive is how much you should return. Parents raise and care for you while family members check in on you, send birthday cards, help you get jobs....but do you return the favor? Will you build an attachment on your house and care for your parents? Will you use vacation days on reunions, weddings, funerals? Not always......

....which leads us to the regret and shame, the hiding from requests and questions, the "I'm too busy right now." For better or worse, family is a part of you and, of equal importance, you are part of family til death do you part. If you are lucky enough to be part good family, I implore you to fully participate and truly enjoy the blessing you have because you, and and anyone like you, don't know how fortunate you are 🙂

Exercise log:
7am - 5.1 mile run with the Rutts
Yesterday - SAVSL soccer game (lost 3-1, semis)