Introduction
Family relationships generally mean a relationship between two or more people in a family who connect, share ideas and care about each other; they help each other practically and emotionally. And this has several aspects, such as mutual respect and love, humour, boundaries, trust, honesty, compromise, good communication, anger control, fighting fair and more.
How Can We Make Family Relationships Functional?
Everyone wishes to have a functional and positive relationship with his or her family. We may be blind to see how dysfunctional family relationships affect family members, for instance, children feeling insecure and unloved, conflicts, financial problems, and mistrust; all these points affect the family’s well-being. Even while certain counselling facilities exist in African nations, there is still a dearth of resources that would encourage us to create a stable family environment. The methods of strengthening family relationships and making them more functional; are by spending time and making memories together, having mutual respect for one another, celebrating events together, accepting mutual and healthy discussions, and laughing and having fun times.
Making Functional Boundaries
Family boundaries are paramount as we build a functional relationship because this will help and invite total respect and understanding in the family. As the family is built on honouring its core values and standards, the connection won’t be harmed if everyone is clear about what they are each expected to do. To improve partnerships, all participants must comprehend and value each other’s unique conduct and personalities. If everyone understands where they stand with each (who is the uncle, who is the aunt, etc.), a tone will be set on to address each other and know what boundary shouldn’t be crossed.
Positive Communication
It is very important to address the challenges that family members may face (whether individually or within the family). So, to overcome these challenges, look at it from each other’s perspective so that you can come to a balanced compromise that will yield positive outcomes. Addressing issues and communicating with each other reduces and controls conflicts between individuals, eventually contributing to peace and harmony in the family. When there is less mistrust among family members, people will feel better and happier about themselves and be able to open up to others without fear of being humiliated, embarrassed, or disgraced. Family members should interact positively because of this.
Conclusion
As we all long to have a good and functional family, we should all try to communicate positively, know each other’s boundaries, and understand the behaviour and personality of fellow members. There is no place like home, after all.