You may occasionally discover that, despite your best efforts and intentions, you are unable to get along with a member of your family. Perhaps someone still harbors resentment toward you or is unwilling to alter their behavior.
Your basic strategy can be to stay away from challenging family members. However, that tactic is frequently unsuccessful.
Here are some further choices:
Take control of your own stress
Prioritize relaxing both before and after dealing with a challenging family member. Effective stress-reduction methods include meditation, walking, keeping a record of your thoughts, and face-to-face conversations with close friends.
During the event itself, if the challenging family member starts to worry you out, don’t hesitate to leave the room and utilize some fast stress-relieving techniques to clear your thoughts.
Establish and uphold boundaries
You may safeguard yourself from unhealthy family dynamics by having firm, defined limits. Imagine that you and your partner are going to see your intrusive in-laws. Set a time limit for the visit in conversation with your spouse. You can limit the subjects of discourse as well. If you and your in-laws have recently engaged in a contentious debate over religion, it might be best to avoid the subject.
Keep your temper under control if someone tries to step over your bounds. Instead, be straightforward and explicit about the outcome.
Adapt your attention
Recognize your family member’s accomplishments as well as their shortcomings. At least your sister is always willing to contribute money to family functions, even if they are hostile and demanding. Or perhaps your mother-in-law always supports your kids while being unduly critical of you.
Demonstrate empathy
Recognize that a challenging family member may be dealing with difficult circumstances of their own. A family member’s behavior may be influenced by a variety of underlying causes, such as mental illness or addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Although these reasons do not justify the action, you may be able to better comprehend the individual and their motivations if you are more sympathetic.
Boost your emotional quotient
You can enhance your capacity to comprehend, control, and express emotions by developing your emotional intelligence. This may improve not only the connections in your family but also your general mental wellness.
Reduce your hopes and learn to accept
Accept the possibility that some people may never share your priorities or worldview. You have no control over the actions of your adult children, siblings, or parents; they will do what they believe is best for them. Focus on other connections that make you happy or try to appreciate the relationship for what it is.
Share your thoughts