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Melanie Andersen's Website God | Family | Health | Education | Environment |
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Family
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Family I believe that it is very important to have close long-term relationships based on a lifetime commitment and unconditional love. That is what family is – whether it is with parents, siblings, or spouse or other extended family. We have certain emotional needs that I feel can only be met through the comfort, security and constancy of these family relationships. I also believe that these family relationships force us to develop certain spiritual skills, such as: patience, forgiveness, tolerance and love. I believe that marriage is a fortress for well-being and a sanctuary away from the craziness of this world. Marriage is a commitment between two people to respect each other (respect each others strengths and respect each others weaknesses and respect each others lifelong struggles and respect each others spiritual and emotional growth and respect each others mistakes) and to work out life's events together (the good and the bad and the difficult and the amazing and the so-difficult-it-seems-impossible). Marriage must be based on unconditional love. That means, you love them even when they don't make you feel good, you love them even when they make huge mistakes, you love them even if they make your life more difficult sometimes. Just like we love our children. It is only with unconditional love, true respect and a lifelong commitment that you create an environment in which you feel safe to be yourself, to learn and to heal and to grow. There needs to be encouragement and support and advice and just being there for each other. Marriage is full of compromises since two lives are merged into one, but those compromises and sacrifices are worth the emotional and spiritual health that arises from that relationship. I also feel that loving, respectful, safe and secure physical touch throughout our lives is important to our physical, emotional and spiritual health. It begins with our mother's touch and continues with the touch of our spouse and children. I think that every marriage goes through difficult times. But if both parties are committed to working it out – no matter how hard it is – I think that's how successful marriages occur. It is through difficulties that we can make a greater commitment to the marriage and each other. It is an opportunity to change ourselves for the better (to learn to communicate better, to develop our capacity for forgiveness, patience, understanding, love, etc.) I believe that raising children exposes us to a new facet of love. I was not aware of the depth of my capacity to love until I had children. There is something magical and indescribable about the physical, emotional and spiritual bonds between mother and child. Having children gives us the motivation to practice what we preach – to be a good role model for our children. It really helps us to reexamine our lives and our character, to determine our beliefs and philosophies. Children teach us humility, sacrifice, patience, unconditional love, forgiveness, and truthfulness. When our life is full of short, non-committing relationships, it's easy for us to leave when the going get's tough, but what we're really doing is avoiding addressing our shortcomings. We are avoiding an opportunity to improve ourselves.
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Health Education Environment |