Saturday, February 16, 2013

What is your family like?


My family is like a Mac computer, shiny on the outside with a whole lot more happening on the inside.  Computers are a vital and modern appliance in today’s society that makes the world go ‘round. Some are old fashioned, and some are new, but the reasons they are bought and used are all similar.  I relate my family to a computer because we are both old and new, but our functions never change; just improve over time. 
            Like the traditional family my parents are the leaders of the household.  In the computer, the main parts are the hardware and software.  These allow the computer to function and work properly, and without either, the computer’s ability to complete tasks would be greatly hindered.  These missing parts could cause the rest of the computer’s parts to not act or work, as they should, thus leading to a faulty and incomplete computer. 
            Luckily my family is whole and functions very well during times of stress and happiness; making us a very happy and blessed.  Each one of us may contribute to making one machine, but we each have our own separate parts that contribute to the whole.  Like stated earlier, the machine wouldn’t work if any of the parts were missing.  So to start, I’ll talk about my mom and dad.
            My mom is the go to lady, the parent my siblings and I go to first just because it had always been that way.  She is like the software on a computer or the operating system.  The main part for getting things going and continuing, the background of the family.  There needs to be a piece that helps and allows other parts to function.  My mom is the rock of our family, but helps my siblings and I to rise up to our potential and take part in our family system.  This is similar in the way a computer works as well.  Over time she has learned things; from being a wife to being a mother, and has changed the ways she has dealt with things.  Computers are the same way in that over time they are upgraded and made better so that they can be used for a wider variety of things.
            My Dad is similar to the hardware on a computer.  He is someone we can store things on and pull things off of.  If we need someone to trust, to ask questions to, or need advice we can go to him for the important things.  Hardware is often taken for granted and not missed until it is gone.  With my dad it is the same way.  We go to him with really important things and when he is gone working and we need him, it is very noticeable.  He is also like the memory chip of our family.  Anything we have planned, things we did in the past, and funny memories, my dad can remember.  But like any memory chip, over time they get full and sometimes don’t work the same.  We tease my dad about that all the time.  The last component is the DVD drive.  The DVD is an outside influence that is put into the computer.  My dad is really good about taking other peoples thoughts and ideas and internalizing them to make himself better.  That is one of the things that I so admire about my dad. 
Now moving on to my 16 year old spunky, my way or no way sister right under me.  She is like the Safari or Internet server on a computer.  The Internet is something that is not always on, nor something you can always access.   If my sister is having a bad day, she is hard to reach and communicate with.  At times she can also be sporadic and not 100 percent reliable.  There are also other times when she wants to get several things done in one day but just can’t do it.  This relates to the Internet that wants to be fast and furious but is sometimes hindered by having too much on its plate.  As you search the Internet you often get more than you want.  You type in a word for Google and it comes up with hundreds of websites.  My sister is very similar to this.  When you are talking to her about something she could pull up any response and just run with it.  It is humorous most of the time but complicated other times. 
            My next sibling is the peacemaker of our home.  She hates conflict and when she is the cause of a fight she is always first to deflate and apologize.  It reminds me of the fan that turns on when the computer starts getting too heated.  But it is never when the computer starts getting warm it is always after it is hot.  It is good for families to get some of their feelings out, but before it goes too far she stops it; same with the computer.  Depending on how warm the computer is determines how hard the fan works as well.  Also the duration of heat determines how long the fan is on.  My sister works this way as well. 
            My youngest sibling is our little man, we finally got the boy!  But being youngest has its advantages and disadvantages.  Sometimes he is pushed to the side because he is young or he is listened to because he is the youngest and is doted on.  When his buttons are pushed he reacts in one of two completely different ways.  Much like the brightness keys on the screen.  After being pushed in the same direction, the screen will either go dark or light.  Lighter is usually preferred, and when its dark you can’t do anything.  With my brother; you want him to be happy at all times, he sets the mood for the family.  When happy, everyone else is happy.  When he is in a bad mood it rubs off on everyone and nothing goes well. 
            As the family grows and works towards becoming better, each individual grows.  After pondering over how a computer works, I see my family in a new way.  Each of us is a vital part towards how our family is made up and works.  If any of us were missing, things would be different in our home.  I understand the importance of individual parts and the detrimental impact that a broken piece can have on the whole unit.  I want to share this with my family and others so that they see the importance that a solid family unit can shape a happy life and future.

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