What Makes Someone Family?

The true family definition is a sense of genuine care for others, concerns, love, selflessness, and most importantly loyalty. Those that stand by you no matter what and make the effort to support you, through necessary changes in living together makes a huge difference. A group of non-related people embraced by a bond so powerful and strong that not even the slightest troubles will make them doubt each other. 

Why Are Friends Considered Family?

Genetic researchers at the university of California, San Diego, and Yale University found that friends can share a lot of the same genes – the same amount as shared by fourth cousins. Family are bonded by genes from the same people who are related physically and grew up around each other. Though this is generally how a family is supposed to be, that’s not the reality we live in now days. There are so much mental and physical limitations each person deals with that deciding which one to care less for is hard. You keep the habits that make you feel safe, comfortable, and sane. But others will not always understand and consider you troubled, or worse in the case of living with them – a regret because the relationship changes too much. However, Friends tend to pay better attention and care a lot more because they aren’t used to you like your general family is.

Everyone is born into a family, but not everyone gets a healthy one. Those who aren’t privileged to have a great birth family usually create a chosen family to fill the void to find love and the feeling of being wanted. The impact it has is extremely important as it will help them to live a life full of joy and peace, or one that makes them life alive on the outside but feels dead in the inside.  

"Keep your heart full with those that make you the happiest."

 - Jennifer Betts

Reasons Why Friends Turned Into Family Matter

• Sets the stage for future relationships with others

The first relationship as a child is with the parents and siblings, healthy or not. These create a template for what future relationships will become. It’s not a conscious design, but one you are given to work with to shape future relationships with people who aren’t family. Other times they need to be the family we need, but won’t get because your real family won’t bother with you.

• People need a family to rely on during challenging times

Life will never be easy and will throw a monkey wrench to make life hard, so having a family friend to support you through the rough times can provide encouragement, love, and understanding to tackle more problems without breaking down. The feeling of being accepted and understood during a crisis is always going to be the basic need for people.

• Families can be a source of encouragement

In good or bad times, people need to be content. Finding friends or purpose in adulthood is hard enough already, so a strong family support matters. A person who isn’t family can easily provide motivation and courage for success, if not, you will feel hopeless and depressed.

• Family friends foster a sense of something greater than yourself

Family friends create connections which makes up for the real family’s absence. Sharing experiences and time together makes the feeling of being alive more fun.

• Family friends develop healthier relationships to replace real family

Researchers learned that men and women who grew up in nurturing house holds with involved parents and flexibility develop stronger relationships with people outside their own family. Men and women who grew up in a household with strict parents, who are somewhat uninvolved, and place their bad habits over the child’s. This way of growing up makes the man and woman grow up troubled mentally, emotionally and they can’t develop relationships with others because of what they were forced to live with so many years ago.

• Family relationships matter to your mental health

Family time with members and friends is very important because people need to be social and to express themselves. Eating dinner together, going out places and taking time to do personal creative habits is healthy for people – especially loners who don’t like being around others. On the other side, research shows that negative family relationships and terrible habits worsen mental health issues.

• Time with family leads to better performance

The national center of addiction and substance abuse at Columbia university conducted a series of studies with family and friends that were family. Kids who eat alone, play alone and spend a lot of time alone are less likely to be successful in different aspects of life. The second study shows kids who eat with others, play with others, and spend a lot of time socializing turn out better with less problems. Other factors will always be at play, but time spent with family friends can be just as effective.

• Learning important life lessons from family friends

Families are the core where kids learn how to deal with their emotions, talk to others and build relationships. When family is not there to supply that, family friends with people who are not related teach the best lessons and give the best life experiences. Parents are supposed to guide the kids but getting a world view from a non-related family member shows a lot more and how the world works.

• Family values can come from family friends

Life lessons in a value system within the family structure provide a basic understanding of how people need to live and what works best for them. When it comes to family friends, it’s interesting to see another family structure and how they work. This gives an idea of how some habits are better left alone, which will develop into a family the person will create themselves. 

• Healthy families aren’t always blood, but are bonds of strong friendships

Society is invested in the strength of families because there’s an effect that’s greatly relied on. Families aren’t defined by blood or who is related to who, it’s about who can be trusted and the relationships they foster throughout their lives.

On a final note, it is apparent that through lifestyle the man or women dealt with growing up is the basis of what relationships they establish growing up. Family friends are the next best people to have in your life when family isn’t there to give you the attention, love, appreciation, care, and encouragement to be the better version of yourself. If you are not close to your family and consider your friends your family, it’s better to have a relationship with someone who is there for you for the ugly, good and bad to keep your life less miserable.