bradley said:

Family was there for early childhood imprints and conditioning.

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JoseLibrado said:

Commitment to loving my family, has shaped the way i view myself and others because love is the foundation to any relation. Yet,  It is a love that is obligated and not free - which can end up hurting you, on a count of yourself not being able to follow your inner most desires, as you feel obligated to follow their desires/exprecations about you. You can be extremly conflicted with this too, as you will have feelings that do not align with those that you have been in close loving with for most of your waking life.
All in all - you are  my family, i love you, I do, i do!

Mucho amor y respeto de vida!!

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Good post bro.

Good thread as well.

I must say that I feel much the same.  I would be on a different path now than I am if it was entirely up to me - but to make compromises and to learn from what you have, not from the movie that's playing in your head about what you could've had, is invaluable.  I do not yet know how to be totally self-reliant, and until I am I will make compromises and strive always to understand that there is unlimited potential for growth in whatever life situation arises.

I love my family very much.  So I try as much as I am able to push myself beyond self-imposed limits and express love or at least tolerance and kindness at all times, even when it is difficult.  I want my parents to awaken very much, and my younger sibling even more so - I am hopeful that this will happen.  I tripped with my dad recently, which was a very cool experience, but made me realize how superficial our communication often is.

Anyway, just some thoughts for the mill...

Moonshoe said:

many (most?) people deal with family stress throughout life. For many this stress is continuous, unrelenting and a major defining factor in life. What then is the spiritual meaning of this struggle (to build of maintain harmonious family ties)?

How has it effected you?

what spiritual solutions or approaches have you found helpfull?

How well have you maintained your family relationships?

If you remain close, what do you credit this to?

if you are distant, scattered or alienated, how has this effected you? how did it come about?

Whatever you feel like sharing about family troubles i suppose, and what you learned from them.

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