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#52SmallThings Accepting Differences
Well, wow! I'm already doing this pretty much on a daily basis! Last year after a divorce that left me without a place to live and no reliable income, I was forced to move cross-country all the way up to Alaska to live with my family. And by family, I mean both of my parents, my youngest sister, my second sister, her husband (who is of Chinese nationality and is still learning English) and their now one-year-old twin boys. Plus two dogs and a cat. In one home! Not only that, we all have VERY different beliefs and opinions and on multiple occasions, disagreements and fights have broken out (especially over politics, given what is on the news these days!).
My father manages a very busy airport and works at least 60 hours a week and is on call 24/7. My brother-in-law and youngest sister have full-time jobs leaving my sister and mother to manage two very willful (but adorable) boys that are constantly beating up on each other or getting into something...the house is almost always in a state of loud and utter chaos and everyone is stressed, tired and walking on eggshells.
So I am always constantly trying to understand my parents' conservative views and our differences and respect that this, is in fact, their home that they welcomed me into. I am learning to accept the differences I have with my youngest sister and how she handles her mental health issues, the differences I have with my second sister on her opinions about how to raise her children, and maybe the most obviously, accepting that my brother-in-law is originally from another country, a completely different culture and having only been in the US for a few short months, that we will have many differences between us! Aside from accepting the differences, I am working on understanding them. And not hanging onto them and letting them get me down.
Aside from others, I am working on accepting and understanding the differences I have with my family and with the rest of the world due to my mental health diagnoses, disabilities, chronic health concerns as well as my opinions and beliefs about the world, etc.
So this week on top of my regular, general acceptance and understanding, I'm specifically going to do the following:
- Reach out to my brother-in-law to offer my help and support during his transition as well as ask him to tell me about his experience and life in China and how it compares to America.
- I'm going to make a list of all of the great, positive and meaningful things that I can physically and mentally do for myself and others.
- When stressed, frazzled, anxious, frustrated, annoyed, or feeling any other negative feeling I'm going to practice mindfulness and start meditating each morning before leaving my room and entering the chaos that is my family's life right now!
How about you? ;) #FamilyAndFriends #BipolarDisorder #Mindfulness #Anxiety #Acceptance #Understanding #FamilySystems #familyissues
