Work and Family

Work and family go hand in hand. The very nature of a family requires work. Raising, teaching and maintaining a family may be difficult, but it is so worth it. Success in life, as we know, is strongly enhanced by a healthy work ethic. The same goes for our families.

Not only to families take work, but there is also a benefit to families that do work. Working together as families provide growing experiences that can bring individuals closer together. Valuable lessons can be taught to children through work. These life experiences can rarely be found in any other way. Learning how to finish what we've started, dedication, and self-motivation can almost guarantee success in a child's future.

A family that works together, stays together.

Sarcasm

There are people with many different types of humor. People have different ways of communicating. Something I see a lot is the use of sarcasm. Sarcasm, while it can be funny and witty, can also be hurtful.

I'm not saying that sarcasm is always a bad thing, or that it should never be used. There's a time and a place for it. The problem with sarcasm, though, is it can be quite hurtful if one is not careful. Sarcasm masks partil truth in with a kind of degrading humor. Sarcasm almost always pointing out the bad in something, and then following up with a often insincere "just kidding." This type of humor can be funny at first, but can get old really fast.

Sarcasm is funny, but should be used sensitively and sometimes sparingly. In the end, it could be easy to leave a bad taste in peoples' mouths concerning you. Sarcasm comes across negative, and people usually only spend time around negative-sounding people for so long.

Communications Up

When it comes to the essentials of marriage, communications has to be near, if not at, the top of the list. It also may be one of the most overlooked and underdeveloped parts of marriage. Communication is, in my opinion, probably the key to a happy and successful marriage.

It is easy in a marriage to begin to take each other for granted. It's easy to become less concerned with the others' feelings. It's easy to become less sensitive to their needs. Communication can solve all of those problems. Effective communication can fortify and strengthen relationship. Understanding and love can flourish as a result of effective communication.

Husbands and wives communicating well with either other can also be good examples to their children as they grow and develop. As children mature with a healthy example of effective communication within relationships they can perpetuate that on into other aspects of their lives.

The Ultimate Goal: A Stress-Free Life

The daily stresses in life can sometimes be enough to make us want to have a nervous breakdown. Many people can put stress in the back of their minds and temporarily forget about it. Int he end though, stress can be destructive. There are ways to cope with stress, and those who learn to do so effectively can live much happier lives.

I think methods of dealing with stress can be different for everybody. One thing that is important though is being conscious of the stress you have. Denial about the amount of stress one has, or a refusal to deal with it, is not healthy. It is very important that everyone has some recreational time. It really can be a good thing. Too much recreation can lead to laziness or a loss of a sense of priorities, but everyone should find something to get their minds off of the hardships of life. Ways to cope and to deal.

Budgeting is for Winners

Budgeting: a word that makes most people cringe. When budgeting comes up in a conversation, most of us would hurriedly change the subject. But is there more to it than crunching numbers, stressing over balancing, and bang your head on the table? I think so.

The very definition of the word isn't necessarily indicative of spreadsheets and piles of receipts on the kitchen table. Budgeting, simply, is being conscious of what you're spending in relation to how much you're making. Good budgeting would be keeping expenses lower than income.

I feel that budgeting is important in life. It may seem stressful to make that kind of an effort, but in the long run, it can prevent and relieve much more stress. Debt is one of the major reasons for so many divorces. Financial instability seems to be one of the main causes of unhappiness. I don't think that money is the source of happiness, but self-reliance and discipline can bring happiness.

Same Gender Attraction - Born With It?

This is a topic that has really, honestly, been fascinating to me. It seems that we hear so much that homosexuality is something that is genetic and is out of the control of the person. We also hear the other side of that coin, that same-gender feelings are simply a lifestyle choice, and not something that is a part of who someone is.

I recently learned of a concept that really got me thinking. This is something that I had never thought about, and an idea that doesn't seem to be a part of the homosexuality discussion. Some studies have shown that homosexuality may not necessarily be genetic. But these studies also don't imply that it is as simple as making a conscious choice to be homosexual. Basically, the theory holds that  it has a lot to do with the way someone is raised. If a boy grows up not fitting in with the stereotypical male (love of sports, outdoors, little care for fashion, etc.) then they will likely question themselves. Why don't they fit in? Why do other boys tease and make fun? Why do they seems to be different from the other boys? Disapproval from father-figures and other influential males would only add to this. If a boy in this situation is not taught that it's okay to have different likes, and that it's okay to not have to fit a certain stereotype, then they may look to what seems to be the logical conclusion. "Maybe the reason for all this is that I'm gay." He would be more than accepted int he gay community, and he would have something to blame on his seemingly different interests. It would be easy for him to look back through life and then begin to associate his previous life experiences with this new idea that he might be gay, and that it all makes sense now. The thing is, is he may never have been gay, and may not be.

Children may be different because of genetics. Not being able to fit a stereotype would cause confusion. It would be easy, instead of working out what we're feeling inside, to just attribute being different to being gay and moving on. I'm sure every cause is different but genetics and choice may play a different role than we think.

Dating or Just "Hangouts"

In class we have been talking a lot about the foundations of a good a healthy relationships. We talked about before we get really serious with someone we need to come to know them as a person. Their likes and dis-likes. Things that bug them and things that they absolutely love to do. How can we commit to someone before knowing who they are. In class we discussed the vital importance of dating and not just "Hanging out". Hanging out with someone is very different than dating. Hanging out is not serious and does not show any type of commitment. It is a come as you like activity. When we date we are more committed to each other. This is not to say that if you go on a date with someone you have to be in a serious committed relationship.It means that you are practicing those skills that if one day you do find someone that you would like to be more serious with you already know how and what to do to really find out who they are. I see in my generation we are so more willing to just hang out with one another but does that really help us find strong and healthy relationships. To me I believe that "hangouts" are things that we do to play games with one another. When we are just hanging out we are not serious on what we really what. "Hangouts" are safer that really put ourselves out on the line and showing another person our true selves. I think that young kids now a days need to date more and hang out less. We need to start practicing those commitment skills so that when we do find the right one we can fully commit with out being scared to do so.

I know I haven't made a post for awhile but I have been learning so much about families in my family relations class. I am coming to realize the great eternal importance that families have in our lives. We need each other. Through our families we learn about who we are. We learn  more about our personalities and characteristics through our family relations. I learned that each man and women have characteristics that make us divine in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. He has given our characteristics to us to complement each other here on this earth. Our loving Heavenly Father doesn't think one gender better than another. We complement each other and we need each other in this life. No gender is better than another because we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and he loves us the same. He has put us on this earth for a purpose and that is one day to ultimately return back to him. We need each other and that means all our characteristics. We need to as men and women increase and develop more fully our characteristics so that we become whole people. When we are two whole people and we come together to make a life together we wont break. It is like when you solder two things together. If the things you are soldering are broken and you are trying to sauder them together again the sauder can be broken. But if you sauder two whole things together on top of each other, that sauder is nearly impossible to break. The sauder makes the sauder strong. That is like men and women when we are both whole people with our own characteristics and we come together nothing can break us. But if we are broken and unsure of our divine characteristics and we come together it can possibly be easier to break us. It is good to learn of our divine roles and characteristics that were divinely given to us by someone who loves us infinitely, and that is our Heavenly Father.

Ready Begin....

        I am so excited for this opportunity to learn more about Families. I know that families are the most important unity in society. We need to cultivate our families to help them be strong so they can withstand the forces in the world that are tearing our families apart.  Our families can be the best source of good in the world. We should find refuge through our families in these trying times.
     
       We can get a lot of information that can help our families in the world nowadays, but we need to make sure where our information is coming from. Studies and research are great tools in finding the best information for our families and lives but we need to be aware of where the information is coming from. Research can be deceiving but we ourselves need to be our own researchers. Our families cannot prosper without the correct most accurate information the professionals have to offer.