Taking care of our Parents/In-Laws is not always fun. It comes with various challenges and rewards. Many a times it can be quite difficult to manage everyone at home, and ensure peace and harmony without being partial to someone. But why dont they listen? Why dont they appreciate things? Should you follow them or lead? All these are important questions to be asked, and we must try to find answers if we want to live a life with purpose and harmony.
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You never know the joy of being a parent unless you become one. In the same way you never know about the pain and suffering due to your own children. In some cases Parents end up being alone or at the mercy of care takers in fancy retirement villages. Can a fragmented family be happy? Is it possible to stay together in harmony?
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In modern times, we are blessed with all things our parents could only imagine - Great Education, Health Facilities, Comforts, Safety and Ease of living. We, the children have worked very hard to make many of those dreams come true. And yet, when it is our turn to take care of our parents - we face many challenges.
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They wont listen to anything we say - they always want to do it their way. Some are egoistic and short-tempered. They say they feel weak or don't have patience to baby sit your children when you want to go on unplanned trip with your spouse, and yet they have all the energy to go on a vacation or endlessly talk to a relative.
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They are always concerned or frustrated with our ideas or our way of doing things. They think we still waste money and other resources. They think that you / your wife are not matured enough and hence should be careful. They keep frowning on how we bring up our children.
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They keep repeating that life was far more harder in their times and that's why they know the real value of money, health, relationships and we dont - you get the picture!
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In-laws are another world. If you dont care about them, your spouse will feel unsupported. If you care for them, will they ever acknowledge or be respectful? Will they support you in the time of your need? How far will you go to support your in-laws when your own parents are un-supported?
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All these emotions, questions and challenges are important in our lives, we need to reflect upon them and learn how to deal with it, they wont magically go away, you need to put the efforts to deal & harmonize them.
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The more we talk about it, our suppressed questions and emotions may find release. It may help us to gain clarity and find answers from the ancient wisdom of Sanathana Dharma which can then help and guide us towards a meaningful living. We must aim not only to perform our duties in a Dharmic way but also to set an example for our children, because as they say the history repeats itself.
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You are welcome to attend our session which covers all this and more. Details are mentioned below.
