Everyone wants a happy, healthy, and successful family. However, divorce rates around the world say a different story. Over time, many people try to find out why their families failed. Or they want to know the weaknesses in their families.
Perhaps, it is time to take a different approach and look for positives. Families with healthy relationships share some common qualities. Perhaps, modeling your family to reflect such qualities will be beneficial and your family can be successful too.
Families are facing economic and social challenges which are factors that strain the family relationship. Nevertheless, marriage can be a satisfying and permanent bond. Parents can learn to discipline their children appropriately, and with love.
Besides, Children can also learn the skills they need for adulthood. Indeed, your family needs to display the required positive qualities to be able to achieve the mentioned goals and be successful.
Now let us take a look at the qualities of a healthy and successful family and how you and your family can apply them.
The Eight Qualities Of Healthy And Successful Families
1. Commitment
Strong families have similar challenges like everyone else does. They are not free of financial difficulties, disagreements, trials, and troubles. Couples need to see their marriage as a permanent bond, thus, building a sense of security between them.
Each mate is confident that the other will honor the union, even in difficult times. They have a firm and resolved dedication to each other.
Consequently, committed couples try to find a solution when confronted with problems, instead of abandoning the union.
Commitment serves as a protection against infidelity for marriage mates. Having a fallback plan when going into marriage undermines the bond of the marriage.
Tips For You
- Write a random love note to your spouse
- Show your commitment by displaying photos of your spouse and kids on your desk at work
- Phone your mate each day while you are at work or apart
2. Communication
Genuine communication takes place when there is a two-way exchange of thoughts and feelings. Each member of a successful family must be a good listener.
Everyone should have the chance to share the good news as well as their challenges. It shows family members you care about what affects them.
Moreover, the family can plan special meetings to discuss any particular issues affecting them. As kids grow older communication can become challenging, especially with teenagers.
Tips For You
- Adapt to your child’s needs. Do so even if you have to stay up late to have a late-night conversation.
- Avoid distraction. Focus on what your child is saying, and treat his or her concern as worthy of your full attention, no matter how small it may seem.
- Take advantage of informal settings. Sometimes children open up when they are not sitting face-to-face with a parent. Mealtime presents another opportunity for informal conversation.
3. Teamwork
Each mate needs to think in terms of “we” rather than “me”, forming a team approach to challenges. Members of successful families all play a part and work together to make it successful.
However, if there is no teamwork, a husband and wife who are not a team will tend to attack each other rather than the problem.
Marriage is not a solo act, therefore minor issues should not be allowed to turn into a major barrier. Decision-making in the family should consider all the concerns of family members.
Tips For You
- What realistic steps can you take to join your spouse so that you are both on the same side?
- Instead of thinking, ‘How can I win?’ think ‘How can we both win?’
- Forget about who is right and who is wrong. That isn’t as important as having peace and unity in your marriage
4. Respect
When there’s no respect, a conversation between couples can become laced with criticism, ridicule, and even contempt. In successful families, marriage mates are respectful to each other even during a dispute.
They listen attentively to their spouses’ opinions and they find a settlement that works for both sides. Respectful spouses show appreciation for the other mates’ input and efforts
Tips For You
- Always remember to give compliments
- Make a list of attributes that you admire about your spouse. Then tell your spouse how much you appreciate those characters.
- It is not a matter of whether you view yourself as respectful or not; it is a question of whether your spouse feels respected.
5. Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the finest qualities of a healthy and successful family. Everyone makes mistakes and eventually offends others. When this happens in the family what’s the best reaction? Successful families forgive one another when they feel wronged.
To forgive means that you let go of an offense and any feelings of bitterness it may have caused. Holding on to resentment can cause emotional and physical harm to you and as a result, damage your marriage.
Tips For You
- When you are offended, do not assign bad motives to your spouse.
- You want to be quick to forgive, remember you too may have wronged your spouse in the past.
6. Values
Values are the personal standards by which you choose to live. In addition, values also include ethical and moral standards that you adopt. Identifying and observing a set of values and moral standards is a key part of successful families.
Having similar values helps each member of the family hold each other accountable based on equal principles. Meanwhile, values are best taught to children from an early age. When your children observe you practicing your ethical conviction, it is easier for them to follow your steps.
Tips For You
- Use a current event to start a discussion about values.
- Teach younger children ethical values by learning to say “please” and “thank you” and to show respect for others.
- Give chores to your children to help them learn the value of serving others.
7. Discipline
In healthy relationships, families set boundaries and are also consistent in discipline. Children need boundaries to help them grow into well-rounded adults. Providing discipline for your child involves imparting moral training that helps a child learn to make good choices in the first place.
Many parents fear that correction might lower a child’s self-esteem however, it helps guide future actions.
Tips For You
- Be consistent. If obedience deserves commendation, parents should give it. On the other hand, if your child does not adhere to your rules then you apply the consequence
- Be loving. Children are more receptive to discipline when they know that a parent’s primary reason is love.
- Be reasonable. In other words, balance the child’s age and ability level with the weight of the violation of rules.
8. Spending Time Together
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Spending quality time together with your family is among the best qualities of a successful and healthy family. Successful families enjoy doing things with each other. Therefore, they prioritize and schedule time for family activities.
Time spent together helps to provide opportunities for attention and encouragement to one another. Without spending time with each other it might be difficult to know what is going in the other person’s life.
Tips For You
- Find out activities that members of the family enjoy participating it
- Parents should provide an enabling environment that is warm and comforting to all
- Make yourself available to support such activities when it is planned for.
