Very insightful post from John Robb

It is true that in the US, we have a meat grinder assembly line approach to life. If you fall behind, the machine chews you up and turns you into a hotdog. If you get far enough ahead, you can leap off the conveyer belt and stand in safety — and stay there unless you are dumb enough to spend enough to get close to the belt again.

However, the safety net for many of us is our family. They can support you through the most difficult of moments. They can pull you off the conveyer belt for a while — the moment it takes for you to gain the strength for another run. The price is that family isn’t free. It takes an investment of years. It takes an ability to forgive and forget, and more comprimise than you think you think you can stand.

Maybe the ability to build and maintain a strong family is a mindset. It is a mindset people haven’t talked much about. It requires that people know how to keep connections alive. How to throw insults and humiliations away as so much transient garbage — that were generated in the heat of the moment. How to give up what you want to do what is right for your family, even when every fiber of your being demand that you drive it up to the edge.

And finally: to forget. Most importently, the ability to forget the negative is the best way to build a strong family.