How do you define such a simple term? What is it? What are it's foundations? These are a few questions everybody should ask themselves at least once in their lifetime.

I guess there really isn't a right way to answer this question since it's mostly based on own life experience. There is however a general answer one could offer.

Let's start with two definitions of the term (source: family definition) :

• any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins
• a group of people who are generally not blood relations but who share common attitudes, interests, or goals and, frequently, live together
  

Blood ties

No matter what you may think about your family, if you have one treasure it! Blood is blood, and sooner or later you'll feel a bond with other blood relatives. Nowadays, families have fallen down from grace, and there are fewer and fewer families that still love and cherrish one another.

There's a saying my father always told me that i have grown to understand and accept it as part of me: "family is family, and when all else fails and everything seems grim, nobody else will help you but your family will help you out"

Warmth, support and love

However family doesn't necessarily have to be blood related. If you look close enough, whereever you may be, you will find people, both men and women, that will accept you for who you are, that will appreciate you, that will care for you in your time of need, that will not ask nothing in return but your attention and love.

Trust is very hard to earn and is even harder given. Do not keep it for just yourself and learn to live with others, it is the only way you can ever be a whole human being.

Not everyone is welcome in my heart, if i treat everyone the same, nobody is special

So you're in the prime of your life and you want to start your own family, or you already have a family but you don't know much about your past. In my honest opinion, a person should learn as much as possible about his or hers family from an early age.

There aren't too many old families nowadays. Ravaged by wars and economic hardships, alot of the old families have dissapeared. The few that have remained are either very close and treat strangers very harsh, hardly accepting them as one of their own, or they are slowly falling apart.

Legacy

Have you ever thought about your legacy or lineage? Have you ever thought how it would be if you had one? If not, then now is the time you should start. We are all afraid of dieing and more then that, we're afraid of being forgotten. But what is the thing that we all learn? What keeps our memory alive throughout the ages? Actions? Maybe, but not as much as we may want. Wealth? No matter how rich you are, you will be left in the cold pages of history slowly fading away.Then what is it? What keeps us alive? What makes sure that our memory lives on long after we are dead?

Family! Just as our ancestors live on through us, we will live on through our children and grandchildren. At first look, it may seem like something out of stories but it's something we all can have.

The first thing to do in order to find more about your family's past is to make a family tree, a full family tree. It's not a very easy thing to do, but it is fun.

Family values

Whether you've found your roots or not, you still have to choose some values you will live by. Some values you will like your family to uphold and keep dear to their hearts. Granted these will change from generation to generation, but it's important to either keep the roots already grown alive or to grow some roots for future generation.

Ask yourself, how do you want yourself to be remembered? What kind of family would you like? What about future generations? What would you expect of them? The answer to all of these lie inside you, and once you finally have the answers never compromise. One thing you should always remember is that the past always comes forth, so if you comprimise and even for a second you overlook the values you have chosen for both you and your family, you will feel it sooner or later.

Good luck!

I hope that this little article has given helped you at least a little and that my words have answered at least some of your questions. Remember nobody is perfect and if you want, do leave a comment, it's appreciated.