Freeing Families is founded on the belief that healthy families promote the freedom of their members. Through intense research and years of experience, we have identified the following 12 Freedoms that we believe are exhibited and encouraged by healthy families.
- The Freedom to Think Independently: Each person should have the freedom to his or her own opinion. Learning to think independently and agree to disagree is vital to the development of self-esteem and positive self-worth.
- The Freedom to Question Respectfully: Questioning is a natural expression of freedom and marks healthy interaction between people. If done respectfully, questioning leads to beneficial conversation and teachable moments.
- The Freedom to Confront Safely: A safe confrontation is one where both parties understand from the beginning that, regardless of the outcome, their relationship will be preserved. Healthy families confront safely.
- The Freedom to Relax Completely: Families naturally spend much of their non-work & non-school hours together. Allowing each person to relax without the pressure of unspoken expectations is healthy.
- The Freedom to Experience Fully: Our closest relationships are the one we consider to be the most “real”. Healthy families learn to appreciate and encourage each members natural uniqueness.
- The Freedom to Attempt Fearlessly: Success and failure are often separated more by confidence than competence. Members of healthy families know that, regardless of the outcome, they are supported in any endeavor.
- The Freedom to Support Openly: Members of healthy families openly support one another. As a result, they feel no need to compete for affection, approval, favor, or status. Open support strongly encourages personal freedom.
- The Freedom to Contribute Generously: Encouraging family members to freely determine their own contributions of time, talent and treasure helps avoid “fair share” mentality and allows generosity to bring its own rewards.
- The Freedom to Dream Boundlessly: Futures are built upon a foundation of dreams. Encouraging members to dream without boundaries, allows a healthy family to become a supportive solution instead of an obstacle.
- The Freedom to Play Innocently: Too often, adults set aside the play skills they learn as children fearing the opinions of others. Innocent play is a powerful and honest interaction. Remembering to play is remembering to live.
- The Freedom to Limit Carefully: Families often feel that they are “missing out” or “falling behind” by placing limits on demands for their time, talent, and treasure. Carefully prioritizing and limiting ourselves teaches self-control.
- The Freedom to Speak Truthfully: Complete honesty is rarely easy, enjoyable, or effortless. However, healthy families understand that truth is the foundation for all loving communication.
