International Family Day: Celebrate The Best Gift Of All
The United Nations celebrates the International Family Day on May 15th. Every year, this holiday focuses on a particular subject or theme that’s related to the magical relationship between family members (and also close friends!).
This year the theme chosen for thought, reflection, and promotion is “the need to promote a healthy lifestyle and a sustainable future”.
No matter what, your family is the social and personal circle within which you educate children and share values, behaviors, and role models.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle that also helps work toward a more sustainable and environmentally-focused future is without a doubt an obligation all of us have for future generations and for the health of the planet.
In today’s article, we invite you to celebrate this special day, International Family Day, with us.
International Family Day, a bond of the heart
Living together and agreeing on everything are not the most important things about being a family.
What’s really essential is to remain united in spite of the possible distance. It’s also important to know that you respect one another, and to value everyone for who they are, what they’ve achieved, and what defines them.
Being a family also means to “know how to form real bonds”, and that—as we all know—isn’t always easy.
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It’s also true that some people might have looked at this May 15th holiday with some skepticism. That could be because they’ve suffered disappointments that made them stop believing in this primary unit of human company itself—the family.
We propose that you consider the following themes.
Family isn’t just a matter of blood relations – it’s also an act of loyalty
You might not get along with some of the members of your family, but that shouldn’t make you stop trusting in what the word “family” means.
- A family is a network of diverse individuals who are united by affection, love, and respect. It doesn’t matter if there is or is not a genetic component.
- Your family mainly includes the people closest to you.
- Your relatives are given to you by your family tree. However, the relationships that you establish with them have a basis on genuine affection and emotional enrichment. This, in turn, brings you all happiness.
- Sometimes a grandmother or an aunt may become your true “mother”. It may also happen that a mother may fulfill the role of a father, grandparent, aunt, or cousin…
Every circumstance is unique and exceptional, and your heart teaches you who your real family members are—which can include your close friends, too. Why not?
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Big families, small families
- Families come in many shapes, colors, and sizes that only its individual members will understand and enjoy.
They may be extended, with many siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandchildren. In these big families, reunions are great occasions. Additionally, there is a support system across which no distance would prevent them from offering comfort to or helping a member in need.
- There are single-parent families where one parent rears their children with courage and effort, giving them everything they can and thriving off of their smiles and conversations, shared dreams and goals.
Families are treasures, don’t take them for granted
It’s important to remember that a family is an archipelago formed by smaller islands. All of us have, for example, parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.
By the same token, we form our own families with the partners we choose. We also have friends who become like brothers and sisters, and possibly even our own children one day.
Families are treasures to care for, regardless of where they come from.
Sometimes when you’re immersed in a personal project with your spouse or children, you might neglect your parents a little. Parents are those protectors who you love so much but nevertheless don’t visit as often as you should.
They’re close to your heart, without a doubt, but love and affection require a continuous bond of words, emotion, joy, and little details from time to time.
Don’t neglect them. Visit your family, get together for reunions, share your new unions with your family and do the same for the family of your partner or your friends.
All of these experiences are positive, helping to build social bonds and new relationships that create what’s known as cognitive reserve.
Being in the present is important in order to care for and enjoy your own family.
Put happiness before disputes, practice forgiveness, join hands, and as this year’s theme for International Family Day suggests. Also, strive to lead healthy habits and promote a sustainable future.