If I were to tell you that you shouldn't put carrots in your juice but a wet free leaf of cabbage is okay, but then just take it out quickly, you would look at me and be confused. That is a part of the House Rules we talked about last week, but it mixes well with our subject this week that deals with Culture and Traditions.
Let's take the time to answer a "basic" question, how does a family create culture? Is it part of life? Are you born with it? Are you born into it? Now, the fastest answer would be, it is carried down from generation to generation, or we would say you would have to go back from generation to generation until we find where it ultimately came from. So in this case we would say that you are born into this culture. I choose that one because that is how I would define it if we are deciding that it is something that is created back in time. Now, this doesn't mean that it is fixed. In some cultures, "this is the way it is," but sometimes we can be the factor in which something in our home changes.
A tradition, which is closely defined as "inherited patterns of belief or behavior", takes us deeper into the subject about culture. I believe that our traditions make up our culture.
My brother on a subject we were discussing said this in response to one of my answers, "It's just what we do, it is our culture." I remember that I disagreed with him. Sometimes we think that something is set in stone, but we forget that when you enter your new family unit, (once you get married and start your own family) things change.
Two people, come from their own social backgrounds. They come with their own traditions or culture, that are going to be integrated into their own family. Friends this does take some work, but trust me, you will have a lot of fun. You will get to know each other in a different way. You will be on the task to create new traditions and a culture that will define your family. Once this happens you will teach it to your children, and then once they are older they will have the same fun when they start their own family, and the same task continues and continues.
Now you may ask, how do we know which to keep? Which to move on from? What to create? What to strengthen? This is what I refer to as the fun part. You with your best friend, your spouse, get to do this together. You don't have to worry about figuring it out on your own. This will strengthen your marriage, and will strengthen your family. Being on the same page and working together will help you decide how to mold and shape the culture that will perpetuate in your family, which will lead into eternity. This isn't a task that happens overnight, or in five years. It takes time. You will find out which traditions to keep. You will find out which ones both of you will discard. You will come up with traditions that you will call your own. And as you do this together, you will be strengthened and in turn you will know which traditions that shape your culture will be strengthened.
If this worries you, my advice is to start thinking about it. Think about it in a positive way. Look at your own family. Take the time to define your culture. Ask yourself, what traditions make up your culture? Being here at college this is a great time to start analyzing these things to prepare you for the time when you will be perpetuating your own culture with your own future family. The same with those who are married. Take the time to look at where you have come from. Talk about the questions mentioned above, and trust me, you will figure it out. And you will be able to say, "it's just what we do." I encourage you to build, strengthen, and create positive traditions that will shape your family into a happy family. A family that is an example to the rest of the world. Not for fame or for glory, but to be the best you can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment