Brainwashed. That has to be what it was. That must be why I love my sister so much. People tell me it's weird that I love my sister, but I've never known anything else!
All the time we hear "Wow, you guys really like to be around each other, do you ever fight?" And my response is, oh yeah, we sure do! We fight all the time, but over stupid stuff. Like doing dishes.
Her: "Hey this dish still isn't clean! Do it again." *Slides the dish across the counter*
Me: "No, it's fine." *Glares, pushes dish back*
Her: "It's not fine, look at this!" *Holds dish way to close to my face*
Me: "Well, if it bothers you so much you do it!"
Her: "No way, that's your job!"
And five minutes later we're giggling and singing pop songs in our best attempt at opera voices.
In the mundane, we are there for each other, and in the hard times, we become even closer. We have a lot of similarities, but we also celebrate our differences.
This unconditional love that we have is all thanks to my parents. When we would fight as kids, my dad would make us hold hands - often against our will - and say "I love you, and you are my best friend forever." We may have mumbled it then and didn't really believe it, but they drilled it into our minds that we had no choice but to love each other.
Maybe it's too late for you and your sibling, maybe you want to make sure that your kids love each other like that, or maybe you need to start brainwashing yourself to love others unconditionally.
You have to decide to love people, I know that sounds simple but it can be so easy to hold a past offense and decide to give up on someone. Deciding to show love and kindness to someone can change your relationships. You get out what you put in.
So what are you putting in? To put that in better terms, how are you speaking over your relationships? It's time for you to hold hands with that person, even if you don't want to, and confirm out loud "I love this person, they are my friend forever." Okay, maybe you don't literally have to do that but you need to get the right mindset in your relationships.
Speak life over your friends, be the friend that you are looking for, be persistent in telling your kids that they are best friends forever, call that friend that has been on your mind, do something out the ordinary for your sibling. Relationships are so important in our lives, so start treating them as a priority.
I love my best friend, it didn't always come easy, but I'm glad that I stayed consistent in making an effort to love her.
