You don’t get to choose your family. You get assigned a family, and you have to love it and accept it no matter how out of place it is. Every family teaches you these lessons in their own unique way, so embrace it to the fullest.

1. To be patient.

There are times where there is a family gathering, and due to the high amount of people in the family, there are many different opinions on what to do or talk about. Everyone is yelling to try to make their point loud and clear. Therefore, here is where the patience lesson comes in. You have to sit there, waiting for everyone to calm down, until you start yelling a little louder than the rest of them… because in the end, you are the same.

2. To forgive.

Nobody is the same, even if you come from the same family. If you compare yourself with the rest of your family, there are many things you have in common with them, and many things that you don't have in common with them. This makes it a little hard for there to be constant agreements between everyone - causing some fights. Nevertheless, what your family teaches you is that in the end, after many agreements, you won't stop being part of the same family. They will never end up being some “nobodies” to you, so forgive, forgive, forgive them.

3. To receive and to give.

Besides the obvious hand-me-downs where you can receive those amazing shoes that won’t fit your older cousin anymore, and where you can give that horrible t-shirt that is “too small” to your baby cousin, there is a lot more giving and receiving that your family teaches you. First, there’s the love that you give and receive. Second, you give and receive food. Lastly, you receive a place to stay if you become homeless, or give if someone else in your family becomes homeless.

4. To protect and to be protected.

Admit the fact that your family is weird, because there isn’t such thing as a “normal” family. There are going to be people who will love your family, and others that not so much. If someone goes against you or any other member of your family, it is natural instinct to protect them and be protected by them. It doesn’t matter who (that isn’t part of the family) insults your pack - protect your pack.

5. To eat as fast as you can.

The food on the table doesn’t last forever, so as long as it’s there, eat it fast and enjoy it as much as you can.