Relationships within families once you’re all grown up should be easy. We love our family, right? Blood is thicker than water. You’d do anything for family.
Except there are always going to be problems, even in the best of families.
A counsellor once gave me these tips on how to approach conflicts, hurt feelings and arguments. Each one is a small piece of valuable insight into how to stay sane when things go wrong with the people who are supposed to understand you the most.
3. Keep your opinions to yourself.
This is the one that most of us struggle with. Remember these 3 things:
- If someone wants your advice, they’ll ask.
- What’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for others.
- You haven’t walked in the other person’ shoes and had their experiences, so you don’t know what advice might trigger things for them.
Even this advice is of a general nature, because everybody’s situation is so absolutely positively unique! Perhaps your opinions are well regarded and enjoyed. But once again, if someone wants your advice, they’ll ask for it.
Keeping your opinions to yourself, especially in crisis situations, is often really important. You might need to just hang around and be useful. Asking questions is often a loving thing to do, because sometimes people just need to talk.
Let them know you care by just being caring.
Joni Page 