Many say blood is thicker than water. I say, blood congeals & clots. Water stays free!

"Blood is thicker than water."   We have all heard that cliché repeated time and time again, referring to the belief that the bonds of family and common ancestry of blood are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people (such as friendship).

While actual blood may be thicker than water, the cliché is absolutely FALSE.  Many families are bound only by societal dictates and social "norms" which demand that families all get along and stay together.

Some new-age thinkers believe we each choose the families into which we are born.  That belief is as delusional as believing there is a supreme deity living in The Kingdom of Heaven; behind pearly gates; who would listen to Tim Tebow's prayers to score winning touch downs.

One believing that they "pre-pick" the families into which they are born is about as likely as one being able to decide if they come out of the womb genetically lucky, with beauty or ugliness. It's all random luck or accidental, depending on which family the stork delivers you to.

The only "choices" which we get to make about our blood family are the ones which we choose to make in order to make the best of the circumstances into which we are born.  Some are fortunate to be born into a functional and loving family.  More often than not, we are born into families which are breaking at the seams, torn by internal strife.  The best scenario is to try hard to make family relations work if possible.  Even when confronted by a situation where you wish you had not been born into a particular family, learning to get along with them can be a very positive way to live life.  On the other hand, if one is born into a family and change for the better cannot be reached after long hard efforts, the situation may become pointless and self-destructive.

Now, where I believe there is a choice in our "family" is the choices we make when we elect to create our own "family," whether that is choosing friends or a spouse, etc.  That family is one where we make conscience decisions to make other people part of our lives and to become a true family.

Ironically, if you decide to have children, those beings (created from sex), once conceived, are again just as random and out of one's control as are the babies ability to choose their parents.  The only choice is in how you choose to raise the child.  The blood relationship has little to do with how the child turns out.   However, parents can greatly affect their children in positive and negative ways depending on their choices in raising the child.

Ultimately though, whichever cards one is dealt, it is up to each of us to determine the destiny of our own lives. One cannot control how others think and deal, but one can decide how they will deal with what they are dealt.  So, whether we are dealt lead or gold, only you can decide how you will let it affect you.

Maintaining blood relations should be a desired choice that enhances life, not a forced sentence of feeling obligated to stay attached.

Family or relationships of any form should help one grow and uplift the life experience. So, if blood relations or any relations congeal and clot your flow of blood, rinse them away with the clarity of thinner water.  I prefer thin to thick. (Light and fun over heavy and negative.)