Family Unity - A Practical Approach

Family life is an inevitable demand of human beings. Needless to say, our individual and collective existence impels/compels us towards family life. A family - young or mature - earnestly yearns for happiness and unity. However, in this age, when, according to statistics, marital/familial issues are increasing enormously, it is surmised that establishing strong family unity is a rather complicated and arduous task. But, in my opinion, the prevailing domestic affairs demand a few apt measures with commitments from all family members. On account of this, associated household concerns will reduce, and, as a result, unity will enhance in the family. We mention hereunder the practices briefly.

Communication - Research claims that open and frequent communication is the quality of strong and united families. Communication has two aspects, speaking and listening. Speaking means conveying ideas and feelings while listening means receiving ideas and feelings, i.e., giving heed to the speaker's words. Getting into the nitty-gritty, speaking requires honesty whereas listening demands faithfulness. Family communication, in a few words, is a single process demanding two platforms - honest speaking and faithful listening. The upholding of both the platforms simultaneously is essential to cultivate a healthy and united family.

Proactive Understanding - In domestic life, proactive understanding of fellow members greatly matters. This phase is concomitant feeling/reaction of the listener after bilateral communication with the speaker. Once the speaker's words are out, they require more than just listening, in fact, they entail respect and further consideration by the listener as well. This act is called proactive understanding. In consequence of this attitude, companionship is realized, similarities are shared and dissimilarities are respected or reduced among family members.

Share household Responsibilities & Assign Specific Chores - Cooperation is just as important in a family life, as in a team. The sum total chores should be divided, according to household needs, and be assigned to members, consistent with their will and skill. For example, in traditional family setup, cooking task is assigned to mother, mowing effort to son, hosting by girls, financial struggle by father, etc. Fair sharing of household responsibilities wipes out any possibility of hatred and jealousy in the family; rather it greets peace and unity. Therefore, it is the duty of family head to share household responsibilities, equally and wisely, among all family members.

Establish Routines - Routines make life more organized. Research proves that a household performs best in active and regular routines. Apart from activeness and regularity, family routines are recommended to be simple as well, that is, they should not pressurize the members. An overlooked benefit of a routine structure, according to multiple pieces of research, is that effectiveness of the task performed as a routine, regularly, within a particular schedule/timetable, is increased significantly. General family routines include dining together, visiting parks on weekends, spending family time, and doing certain chores at specified junctures.

Spiritual Efforts - The efforts through which soul serenity is enhanced refer to as spiritual efforts. Just like a body, each family unit has a separate soul. The purity/impurity of any family depends on its soul. Therefore, family members should partake in spiritual endeavors to gain purity. Generally, purity in a family means the moral improvement of members. A few family-soul purification efforts are reinvigorating/initiating targets, meditating and praying together, discussing inspirational literature or sacred revelations, and promoting religious rituals.

Have Fun Together - All families look forward to leisure time, every once in a while. Filling up the spare time with recreations can offer freshness, love, and unity-driven environment to household members. Also, a time-off is often a wise idea to shun burnout and monotony. Some common family pastimes include sharing and laughing at jokes, outing, spending vacation overseas and watching television/movies together.

Most people urge to discover a proper technique to safeguard their family from gaps/conflicts. Conflicts are an inevitable part of domestic life. A family can fall prey to different forms of conflicts, such as poor communication, excessive financial work, inequity between children, external grounds/conspiracies, etc. These conflicts should never be allowed to intensify; otherwise, they may jeopardize the family, your near and dear ones. Hence, before the conflicts overwhelm the family, the family should overcome the conflicts. The aforesaid steps are highly useful to avoid gaps in family life.