Flawed expectations

One of the things that I found fascinating is the concept that the family is the root of all evil. I found this fascinating, because all my life I’ve been taught that the opposite is true. As a latina from a family of Mexican descendent, I was taught to be respectful to my elders and that family is everything similar to the families in East Asia. Even though to be honest I found this problematic. I express myself in this way, because sometimes my relatives would be cruel to other members of the family, and still expect to be respected. I believe more in the concept of you get what you give, but I know this thought is also problematic, because I don’t have it in me to disrespect people who disrespect me. I just choose to walk away. I have found that sometimes you can’t reason with people who have been programmed to think a certain way for decades. Going back to the idea of family being the root of the problem, I don’t believe that’s the case. I think the problem is not the people, I believe the problem the ideology that people expect something from others. It’s like I helped you, therefore you owe me something. I gave birth to you, therefore you must do as I say. I find this problematic, because setting these expectations you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. I have found that people who don’t choose their path are unhappy. They worry about making sure other people's expectations of themselves are fulfilled, but they don’t focus on their individual needs. Many times, there are cycles of behavior that need to be broken to move forward in the healthy direction. Therefore, I find that people’s ideology/expectations of what a family should be are flawed.