You can choose your friends but not your family

When a yoga therapy participant asked about these pictures yesterday hanging above our house entrance, these thoughts came up in my mind. 💭
One Indian tradition I embraced is honoring my parents and the ancestral lineage. Each Indian house will display a photo of the deceased father and mother in their living room to remember and honour their path. I altered the tradition a little as my parents are still alive, however, honoring them and the path I came from helped me to heal and feel whole. (Indian arranged wedding photo from 1950’s of rural Kerala and the Czech wedding photo at the Old Town Square in Prague in 1973). When I was growing up, I felt like everything else but fitting in into my family. I felt different, misunderstood and later rebellious. The “Indian” perspective helped me to look at my family situation with compassionate eyes and I understood that every father and every mother would do their best to bring up a child. I also realized that if you didn’t reconcile and came to terms with your family, mainly your mother and father, you could never make peace with yourself and feel complete. In another words: you choose your friends but you cannot choose your family. Accept the past, honour the path you walked, heal and pave your own true way. Christmas time might be just the perfect time. 🎄