The Power of Siblings

Before I get into this post, I must address a few issues. Not everyone has, wants, or can develop a strong relationship with their siblings. What follows is my experience growing up with a sister. It might not be representative of most sibling experiences and it might not resonate with you. But I hope it makes you think and I hope you really stop to consider where you stand with your loved ones. For those of you who don't have siblings, the message can just as easily be applied to parents, cousins or best friends.

As some of you may know, I have been blessed with an incredible sister. She has inspired me in more ways than I could possibly share. She has modeled for me, perseverance, fortitude, kindness, compassion, loving and giving of yourself selflessly, and truly chasing what you want and making the most out of life. She is the yin to my yang, and I use that metaphor deliberately because as different as we are, we strike a lovely harmony when interacting with one another. We are very different people. I definitely don't own a beet farm...yet, and she isn't quite to the point of driving mustangs into graves without realizing it...yet, but in a way we are Dwight and Dwight's brother. We most certainly have not always gotten along, but even when we weren't "playing nice" we were teaching each other valuable lessons and helping each other grow.

You can probably count on one hand the people in your life that you might spend more time with than a sibling. We grow, change, play, fight, and learn from our siblings. We are given an opportunity to be a friend, a source of comfort, a beacon of hope in troubled times and a shoulder to lean on when the going gets rough. We can be inspired and be inspiring. We can be a role model and have a role model. We can encourage and be encouraged. We can love and be loved. Again, it's not easy being a sibling. It's something that must be worked at and it will most certainly not always be a love-love relationship. But there are few relationships that are hardwired to stand the test of time the way a siblingship (totally a legitimate world) is. There are few relationships that come prepackaged. That doesn't mean that they are not difficult. Yet at the end of the day, if cultivated correctly, they can be an invaluable lifeline.

Again, I feel as though I should emphasize that my sister and I don't always see eye to eye. We still argue to this day and I would gamble that we will continue to do so for years to come. But I challenge you to think of a meaningful relationship that you have with someone in which you always agree. More importantly though, I challenge you to stop and think about your siblings if you have them, or a close friend if you don't. I don't know you and I'm not pretending that I do. If you have a deep seeded reason for not talking to your brother(s) or sister(s) then so be it. But if you have siblings that you interact with at least on a semi-regular basis, let them know how much they mean to you. Thank them for all the times they played dress up (and spun around in your moms dress and heels at your request and subsequently destroyed their face on the corner of a wooden chest to please you...just a hypothetical situation), legos, video games, school, house, pretend or whatever else they might have done with/for you. Blood really does run deep, and the better our relationships are with those people we call kin, the better off we will ultimately be. After all...other people matter, period.