Thought for today: Look for the lessons in every life experience. Sometimes they are obvious at other times you need to search for them, but they are always there. One of my clients has been struggling with low self esteem, although they are successful in their work they can't seem to understand why. We have spoken about how her family never quite understood his creativity and found fault with his decisions to live far from family. I encouraged him to meet with and reconnect with mentors from his past who have supported him. He visited with one of those mentors & was shocked when they told him how much he had helped them over the years. Lesson: You can't pick your biological family, but you can pick your "dream' family, the ones who see you & your strengths.
Tell me about some lessons you have learned from difficult life situations. Let me know how I can help you learn from the ones that are not so clear to you yet.
4 comments:
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I love what you are saying about picking your dream family. This is so important, particularly in this age of transmigration. Even if you are close to your biological family, many are split up living all over the world and "dream grouping", to coin a word from your original thoughts, is so important for day to day connections and fullness.
Thanks,
Martha Love
http://careerstorefront.angelfire.com
We will find you and we will tell others! Thanks for the invitation and congrats on your new blog!
You're writing today about such an important topic. You may or may not know that in the glbt community and in other groups where there is a high concentration of losses related to families-of-origin, these "dream families" are referred to as "families of choice." It's a lovely term, I think, and has the potential to bring a sense of empowerment along with it.
I love my family or origin although they were not necessarily those that I would have chosen on my own. However, my family of choice - which does include some of my biological family - really is my dream family - hand picked, vetted only by me, and hands down the best family I could ever have imagined.
Thanks for the reminder. January 06,2012 is a great day to be reminded that my family of choice ROCKS!
Tamara & Martha, Thanks for the feedback. Yes, Tamara, it is an empowering feeling to choose the family that encourages your strengths & dreams. I have been fortunate to have had both a supportive family & added some dream members to the fold. Yes, Martha, when I lived overseas my friends filled many of the roles of family for me. So glad you both found me! Barbara
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