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How Does My Family Influence My Life
As a child who grew up in a traditional Chinese family, the word ―family‖ is divine and
important to me. Unlike other big families which have two or more generations living together, I only stayed with my parents and lived far away from other relatives. As a result, my personal values about moral, ethic, faith, responsibility and worthiness had been formed and influenced deeply by immediate family.
My father, whom I tried to learn from since I was a boy, has influenced me the most.
Under his watchful eyes, I formed my characteristics, faith, rules and core values. I will never ever forget the afternoon when I was in the first level of junior high school. It was on a cold winter afternoon. After I finished my homework as usual, I went out to play with my
playmates.This time my playmates suggested that we should play cards and use plastic bullets— which are for the toy guns— as our gambling tokens. I hesitated for a moment because my father had preached the principle ??No gambling! ‘‘. At my playmates‘ repeated requests, I accepted and joined the game with the thought maybe I would not be too unlucky to be caught by my father. Life is not always what we wish it to be. Focused on playing, I had no idea when my father came behind me. Suddenly I heard a thunderous shout that sounded vaguely familiar; I looked up only to see my father looking like a warhead was off and flying straight towards us with red eyes and burning hair. I had no idea how angry he was at that moment, but I indeed knew that I had never seen him being so angry before.Slapping me on the face, grasping my hands— even before I could explain— my father dragged me home. At that moment, I realized I had really irritated him, and I knew what that would mean— I would be beaten.
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―I don‘t want to beat you, but I have to do it before you make a big mistake. I just want you to remember that your own choices make who you are and what you are. You must be responsible for whatever you have done,‖ my dad said.
―There are things in the world that keep changing since their existence, and there are things that never change no matter what happens. And your moral, ethical, faith, rules and core values are the things that would never change.‖
―I don‘t want you to break your rules to test your conscience in the future because even such a mistake is too much. We can‘t afford to make such a mistake even once because later the remorse will sting our hearts and conscience the rest of our lives.‖ My dad added.
Frankly speaking, at that time, I could not forgive my father to a degree, I felt some resentment and did not pay much attention to the lesson he was teaching.
Through the years, I began to realize the meaning of those words. Yes, my father was right. Our own choices make uswho we are and what we are. It is our moral, ethic, faith, rules and core values that make us different and unique. Under the influence of my father, I built up the values successfully.
My mother, who is the kindest person I have ever seen, has also influenced me
significantly in my life. She has a strong sense of responsibility and always told me, ―If you start doing one task, you have the responsibility and the obligation to complete it even if you meet the most difficult problem in your life.‖ My mother contributes her whole life to the education field; during her 35 years career life, she trained hundreds of students sincerely who were really successful in their field. In addition, even though she was busy with work, she still took care of my father and me meticulously. She is the person I admire the most and also the person that I
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setas an example. Thanks to my mother, I have built up my sense of responsibility and passions of pursuing my goal.
Love among our family members also shows its influence on me. As I said above, my family lived far away from my other relatives. In this situation, our family members relied on each other deeply. Before I left my parents, I had no idea how I would miss them. But as a student to study abroad, I have been touched by the love among our family members. Totally different as I was in China, I began to care about everything that happened around my parents. The weather in my hometown, my parents‘ mood, even the food that they are eating can attract my attention. At that time when my parents heard something bad happened in Houston, they had to call me immediately to make sure I am safe. Every day, I will get a call from them, which also bring me the message – love. We cannot leave each other, for we are one. Love from my family helps me to build up my worthiness in life.
All people are created equal, but one‘smoral, ethical, faith, responsibility and worthiness makes one unique when facedwith choices.With my personal views which were built under the influences of my family, I believe I could make the best choice and live through every storm safely.
