How to Love Your Relatives

I come from a family of special souls. We are as different as chalk and cheese. The chalks have beautiful colours. The cheeses have a wide range of textures tastes. Together, we make an interesting, tasty and useful combination.

There is nothing that brings out the best in people like a family crisis. This is when we stand together and support each other. We form a wall between us and the rest of the world, and we protect one another's interests. We provide emotional support and at times financial support. We have meals together when we can. We stay in contact, unlike other families where siblings disappear for years without a trace.

There is also nothing that brings out the worst in people like a family crisis. This is where we each show our true colours and tastes.

Yes, we all have true colours, because we all have some chalk in us. We all have the gritty bits that taste like sand. We all become the piece of dust in another's eye.

We also have our own tastes, preferences and ways of doing things. We know who will choose heads and who will choose tails in bets. We know who will complain about the outcome and who will shrug it off and get on with life.

Have you noticed how you will tolerate much more from relatives than from strangers? This is because we all intuitively know that at some level our relatives have a special bond with us.

As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water. We have very special relationships with our relatives, whether we choose to label these relationships good or bad.

The purpose of these relationships is always to teach us something about ourselves that can only be learned and resolved with Love. Our families are masters in the art of teaching us about Love. They either show us love when we need it most, or they highlight the part of ourselves that we know and appreciate least when we do not love ourselves.

Some people place a high value on family. They may be seen as busy-bodies by those who place a lower value on family. Where family does not take such an important place on a person's list of values, they may be seen as cold and uncaring.

The only way to have a perfect family is to have both the chalk and the cheese, because they both have a purpose. Without that, there will be no balance.

No matter what happens, my family are perfect for me.