Is family important?

[Sentry]

Re: Is family important?

@redvelvet

Actually my initial and subsequent responses are connected to your question; they are very relevant and I will try to explain:

Look at the first sentence of your post. You have based importance on the condition that the other person should “be there” for you. This means that if one has been there for you, you will therefore consider them to be important. If one has not been there for you, you will not think they’re important.

Now when you say “were never there for you,” my response challenged this claim of yours. Generally when we are resentful toward a person, we see nothing good in them at all. So, in my post, I was trying to encourage you to scour your memory for even the most basic support your parents had shown you…even if it was support for your survival.

Putting parents aside, I think that when we are deciding whether or not a person (a friend, etc) is important to us…and whether or not we should still maintain ties with them…we asses the relationship. In doing so, we think about all the negative things and the positive things about the person. The former may outweigh the latter. But you have to decide if the few good things are enough for you to maintain even a thread of a connection with them. And it’s these few good things that bring about a feeling of gratitude (if not love) that can be the reason to not totally sever ties. It’s all connected and therefore I find my response to be relevant to your question even if you disagree.

I still disagree with you. You’re taking what I’ve said “never there for you” literary when you know exactly what I mean by the question asked. Also. It’s not a claim. Its fact. Wiping someone’s behind doesn’t mean someone was there for you. Being there for someone includes emotionally, physically, guidance etc that’s being there for someone. Friends and family are different things and different topics. They don’t compare at all in my opinion. And FYI. You proved my point. With friends you do show gratitude cause sometimes they are there for you emotionally etc and it works both ways. When I said “never there for you” with family, that’s a one way street. Gratitude / gratefulness wouldn’t exist on my part if my friends “were never there for me” either. It would be gratitude on my part for still allowing them to be apart of my world. Same logic applies to family.