#6 Hilton Head, SC

"I have a great family, I live an amazing life." - John Oates

With the turkey finally resting on our belly and the Christmas season finally here, I think it is a time we focus on the most important F word.

Family. 

I used to think it was just my family. A heated political debate at the dinner table which leads into a heated argument. Which lead into that one time I was 7 and you didn't push me on the swing. How dare you not like my swear I wore 5 years ago. You know. The kind of argument that seems to go from politics to fashion to a text message read wrong in the span on 5 minutes.

My trip to South Carolina was wonderful. I loaded up my car and headed to see my aunt and uncle, along with 15 other family members that I haven't seen since I was 2.

In the mix of this was my brother, that I didn't reconnect with till I was 13. Cousins I had never met... the list goes on.

I am going to be pretty straight to the point with this. I think a lot of us hide behind the feeling of uncomfortable when it comes to reconnecting with family members. Maybe we haven't seen them in years. Maybe we have never met them before. And all I am saying is this year is a good time to start.

The crazy thing about family is they are the only one you will ever get. No matter what you do in life, your dad, your mom, your aunts and uncles, your cousins, your grandparents, your nieces, and nephews... whatever they may be. You only get one of them. 

I know that it is easy during the Holiday's for us to avoid the family functions in fear of the hard conversations. We don't want to talk about why we quit talking. We don't want to talk about the deep pain rooted in an outstanding family debt. We don't want to address things that keep us awake at night because it is uncomfortable.

This past weekend was an amazing reminder to me that when we allow ourselves to reconnect with relatives, we get to learn a little bit more about ourselves. 

This Holiday season, give yourself the biggest gift you can possibly give and have the hard conversations. Do things that make you feel uncomfortable. Trade presents for your presence and don't miss out on time with the only family you will ever have.