Strong, positive relationships help us build trust and feel supported. Having people around us who can share positive and difficult times can also help us manage stress when things become tough. Children first learn about relationships from their own families. Following are what some experts have said about healthy family relationships.

The relationships we experience with the people around us have a great influence on our wellbeing. Strong, positive relationships help us build trust and feel supported. We first learn about relationships from our own family. Our family gives us model from which we start to discover how to build relationships throughout our lives.

I have learned that healthy family relationships can foster a feeling of love and security in all family members. For those of us who are fortunate enough to have an intact family, it can be one of the greatest blessings anybody have have: a nurturing and caring environment which helps us grow into well-balanced, happy and successful adults. Here are some of the essentials in building a strong, and healthy family unit.

1. Communication - Good communication is crucial for any healthy relationship as it makes it easier to resolve conflicts and build strong connections. Families should indulge in communicating with honesty and with openness. They should listen to one another with the aim of understanding, which can help promote empathy.

2. Togetherness - Families that share similar beliefs and values can develop a great bond as it supports in creating a sense of intimacy and belonging. It can generate an environment of security and closeness which can become a source of strength in times of difficulties. It can also help in founding a reliable support system where members of the family are truly devoted to each other.

3. Affection - Stable families don’t shy away from showing care and affection through hugs, kisses, words, and acts of thoughtfulness. An individual’s opinion or idea is respected and valued which can help relationships to flourish and grow. Sharing of positive feelings like appreciation and admiration for each other can assist in setting up a bond of inseparability.

4. Sharing Activities - Close families regularly share life experiences which help bring family members closer. It can facilitate a commitment of spending time together, engaging in activities that the family enjoy doing, like playing games, reading, sports, and camping.

5. Commitment - Close-knit families follow the norm, ‘family always comes first’. No amount of trials or difficulties can shake the unwavering faith that they have in each other. This constant dedication towards each other helps them sail through both bad and worse times. The hard times motivate them to get together to find solutions and correct problems.

6. Support - Healthy families are there for each other through thick and thin. They refuse to give up on one another when situations become unpleasant. Their associations are not subject to changing circumstances. No matter what, they stay together and support every family member providing the reassurance which may help overcome the adverse conditions.

7. Acceptance - Successful families have mutual respect for each other. They understand each other's unique qualities and accept each other's flaws. They avoid passing judgments or negative remarks. Such an attitude can inspire family members to conduct themselves in a positive way infusing each other with confidence and self-worth.

8. Boundaries - Members of good families create healthy boundaries and refrain from intruding in each other's personal space. They respect boundaries which can help every individual enjoy better security and closeness.

9. Spiritual Devotion - Families are stronger when members are hitched together as one owing to their shared affiliation with God. A shared commitment to God's word can provide families with a since of meaning and purpose in life which can propel them to stay together. They can achieve the right perspective of life's struggles and challenges. It can give them guidelines for living which can contribute to fashioning a positive household.

There are no two families that are alike.  Our relatives may be loud and crazy, small and introspective, totally conventional, or completely  unorthodox, but our family is ours. And, no matter what, our family makes up a huge part of who we are. They sum up the strength and security families provide, the way our family loves us and even that our relatives can at time drive us just a little bit insane or we are the one driving them crazy.

By Tim Pedrosa