It’s so easy to lose sight of the purpose behind Family Day. Our lives are so busy and pressured with work and responsibilities that very few of us take the time to stop and smell the roses. Family Day gives us an opportunity to spend time with and appreciate the people we care about. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect on the important relationships in our lives; both work and personal.
Unfortunately, we often allow the day to slip by without “unplugging” professionally. We drown out the opportunity that Family Day gives us with justifications such as:
“If I don’t complete this task/put in the extra hours then there won’t be a family day for us in the near future.”
The reality is that there is substantial merit in this justification for most of us. Life isn’t made up of absolutes. Ultimately, we need to find that ever-illusive “balance” on days such as Family Day or run the risk of constantly being on the sidelines of our own personal lives.
We need to work, yet we also need to spend time with our families before it’s too late to recognize each other.
Ironically, for many of us, being able to unplug and spend time with family on days like these is made possible by having a good job or source of income (irrespective of whether you are an employer or an employee).
We are all employees regardless of whether we are working in our own or someone else’s business. We all have our various ladders; the only difference is the rung we might be sitting on. These ladders and rungs often distort the purpose of days like Family Day, and allow us to ignore how healthy employment relationships are beneficial to our lives and the time we can spend with our families. It also causes us to overlook the value of the people who work in our businesses and homes. Let’s appreciate the people who take care of us.
So, to our work and home families, and to all your families out there:
“Happy Family Day!”
