Since this is Father’s Day, many will be spending time with their families of origin. Not all families, however, are healthy and supportive.
This is a short excerpt from an insightful post on dysfunctional families at KerriChronicles titled “Toxic Family Members – 10 ways to Rescue & Save Yourself”. You can find the full article at: http://kerrichronicles.com/toxic-family-member-10-ways-to-rescue-save-yourself/#more-6976. Many thanks to Kerri McKenna!
“…[N]ot every family is built on love, support, and stability. Sometimes family simply means that you share a bloodline…
A family member making you feel unloved, unwelcome, and ashamed for someone else’s behavior towards you, like rape (child molestation\sexual abuse\incest), is not acceptable treatment. Rejection, abandonment, someone…trying to diminish your accomplishments, or someone who is hypercritical of you…
These negative experiences can and will jade you for a lifetime, ruining your life, shifting your existence, changing the way you walk in the world, haunting your days, sometime even making you a product of their environment, repeating these toxic behaviors so it’s a must that you do whatever it takes to get yourself into a positive, nurturing environment, surrounded by loving, affirmative, true God-fearing people…
1. If it’s possible, move out and move on without them… Toxic people share the characteristics…of essential dishonesty and unwillingness to accept any responsibility for their behavior, therefore repairing relationships with toxic people is challenging at best, and often impossible…
2. Forgive. This is not for them, it’s for you. Don’t give them anymore of your life than they’ve already taken.
3. Accept your parents and family members for who they are and accept limitations. Know that you don’t have to repeat their behavior…
4. Allow yourself to get angry… Anger is…a part of the healing process so be angry at your losses but don’t seek revenge, God handles that for us…
7. Set healthy boundaries and stop pretending their toxic behavior is okay and hold them accountable… Constant drama and negativity is never worth putting up with…
10. Take charge of your life and your happiness. Do good things for you and speak up… Do things that build your self-esteem. Do things you enjoy, things that make you feel good and things that you can be proud of. Invite others that love you along and allow them to share in your new experiences and happiness…”
FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: http://www.alawyersprayers.com
ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 
A reader who has asked that his identity not be disclosed recently commented:
“…My father was emotionally distant and stern and my mother was overly motherly. In fact, me being the first born…made me the one she tried to get to fill the vacuum with where my father failed to show her affection and connectedness. She…confide[d] in me about her disappointing sex life on more than one occasion and finally…told me about a longstanding affair…So…I grew up without proper boundaries and have had to establish my own and often found myself swing from over assertiveness [with] my wife and kids to passive obedience to Christian cult leaders. Only as Jesus has been able to heal me have I found any sense of normalcy in my life with the establishing of some adequate boundaries and also healing and restoration regarding the way I have treated my own family. He keeps working on those hidden areas in my life that need His healing light (Is. 9: 6).”
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