by K BoxRight

Created on: March 26, 2009

"Blood is thicker than water" so they say. I say, blood cannot be thicker than water when one of the parties involved has bad blood, bad character, and bad agendas. This is what happens when a family member takes advantage of another's kindness.

It is so natural to reach out to those that you call family, because in them, you can identify with home. However, what happens when that person you love or trust does not understand the necessity of being a family member without holding you to some other form of obligation. I cannot express enough that having a family member who can or will help is not the same as having a family member that is obligated to help. This thought of an obligation is how we take advantage of one another's kindness.

For example, let me tell you a story about two brothers. One brother was prosperous, working in a career that he adored. The other, younger brother was a husband and dental assistant student who was thriving to reach his career and personal goals. The brother that was successful took advantage of the brother who wasn't successful in the most unusual way. How did he do this? Well, he was reckless with his money, while the younger brother was careful with his. This brother loved the successful brother and always was willing to reach out to him when he needed him. But the older brother did not care about his younger brother. He told his friends at work that he owes me. Whenever I ask for anything, he should be happy to give it to me, because I am his brother. What he failed to realize was that the younger brother did not have to pay for his love or brotherhood. He was giving to him out of his heart without asking anything in return. One day, the successful brother, who had used the younger brother and laughed about it to his friends, lost his job, his car, and his house. He went to all of his family members, aunts, cousins, and in-laws to help. They turned him away. He finally found the nerve to go to his younger brother and beg for help. However, the younger brother said to him, "I am so sorry, but I had helped you so much that I have used all my savings on taking care of your irresponsible spending. You did not care enough about me to stop asking, and I didn't care enough about myself to say "enough."

This was a valuable lesson in the harm that it causes when a family member takes advantage of the other without any regard to how they feel, their own financial, or personal situations. I liked the story about the two brothers because the lesson learned was that family members take advantage of another's kindness because they simply think "that they can."

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