Love... with understanding

Many people still think that in the family, love is a given: parents naturally love their children, husband and wife naturally stick together, and siblings naturally love each other. Therefore, even though there may be times of anger, distance, and conflict, love in the family allows members the opportunity to forgive, make up, or reconnect after a breakup that many other social relationships do not have.

Playing with children. (Illustration: Internet)

However, in the era of social networks, artificial intelligence and daily changes in life values, family love also needs to be nurtured through understanding, dialogue and daily spiritual care for each other. The reality of modern life shows that family love is facing many risks of being silently broken. Information technology pervades life but makes people increasingly distant from each other emotionally. Technology does not destroy family happiness but the lack of presence, lack of understanding and lack of connection are actually doing that. Personal values are promoted but the ability to listen and accept differences in family life is declining. Economic pressure, work, study, achievements combined with the charm of social networks make relationships between family members more fragile and vulnerable.

In that context, love in the family cannot be based solely on emotions or habits but needs to be redefined as a conscious social behavior. That is, in the family, each member should proactively learn to love with understanding on a new foundation: understanding is not just simple sympathy, but understanding each other in a constantly changing social context. Understanding in love is not simply knowing what others like or dislike, but understanding what that person is going through as well as understanding the pressures they are facing. Many parents worry about their children, but if they do not understand the psychology of their age, the way they express their concern can become controlling, making their children feel suffocated. When a partner may just be silent because of fatigue, but if there is no sympathy, there is a high risk of being misunderstood as cold and indifferent. Small misunderstandings accumulate over time into a large gap. Therefore, many couples break up not because of a serious incident, but because of a lack of understanding in daily communication.

In a changing world , what we need to learn is not how to love more, but how to love deeper, understand better. There is no need for big things, a gentle question instead of a reproach, a hug when seeing a loved one being silent for too long, a time when putting down the phone to really listen... are all concrete expressions of understanding love. Love in the family therefore cannot be something "pre-existing by default" as in traditional thinking. It must be something that is practiced and nurtured as a life skill. It is the ability to listen without judgment, the ability to adjust expectations and respond flexibly to changes in others. It is social sensitivity when each member understands that each person in the family is growing up, changing and facing challenges.

Understanding is not just about understanding others, but also about understanding oneself: understanding one's own emotions, limits, needs, and habits of response. A person can only love healthily when they have enough inner capacity to control their emotions, know when to stop, when to say sorry, and when to be quiet and listen.

Because in the end, family happiness does not come from living together in the same space, but from the ability to be fully present in every moment. Perhaps that is why love in a modern family needs to be expressed in an understanding way so that members can grow together in every stage of family life.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202506/yeu-thuong-co-hieu-biet-e4d1059/