Think about your family life for a moment. If you are like most people, there are a variety of dynamics that surround your family.   You get along, you don’t get along.  You laugh and have fun and you storm and yell.  You talk to each other and you don’t talk to each other.  You love your siblings, but you can’t wait to go home and get away from them.  You love your parents, but they drive you nuts.  You love your own kids, but you can’t stand them at times and you can’t wait for them to grow up and leave home. (OK,  I can hear some of you chuckling and nodding your heads, especially if you have teenagers.)

So what can you draw upon when conflicts arise and you need to save your sanity?  You can draw upon your core values.  Your core values are your foundation.  They are your guiding principles.  And if they are truly your core values, they are very slow to change.  They provide you with constancy and clear direction.  So when conflict arises in your family, get clear on your own core values and then assess whether your family — including your children — know and understand your core values.

Having a conversation with your children about your core values will help them to understand the reasons for rules, guidelines and your concern about acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

And as you get clarity of your core values, check them to determine if there is one that allows for respect and tolerance.  A number of family issues are caused by people’s inability to respect differences and allow a family member to be different than the family norm.

Register for a Strengthen the Harmony workshop to bring more harmony into your life and family.