Family

What is family to you?

To me, family are the people who you should feel safe with. You should be able to have conversations with them without feeling attacked. You should love them and feel loved by them. They are the ones that should be there, first in line, to help you through a situation. And yet, it sometimes seems as though they are just the opposite of that. They are there to attack your opinion of something or someone. They are right there making hurtful comments about you without regard as to who else might be listening or reading.

Why is it that "We hurt the ones we love"?

Is it really so hard to show love to those that God chose to be the closest in our lives? Is it that we know that no matter what, they are family and they "will get over it"? I know that no family is perfect. We all have different opinions, religions, or political views, but I feel it is important to respect each other enough to listen and talk about those differences without personally attacking one another. So, how can that happen? What can we change in our lives to make this possible?  I don't know the answer, so I guess I am hoping for some help with this one! Any comments are welcome!