Can family understand us?

[Angelo D]

Like most of you, I'm sure, none of my family is into personal development and therefor do not understand my lifestyle. For example, moving to Las Vegas to do pickup and continue actualizing will jeopardize my relationship with my father who is religious. Why is Personal Development unable to reach or appeal to the majority of people? What could be done?

[Raptorsin7]

Nothing can be done. You have to live your life the way you see fit, and your parents will likely resist this because they have their own ideas about what you should be doing. Maybe if you become ultra successful and live a virtuous life they will come around, but they will provide a ton of resistance to your growth. It's only natural, a lot of things that are necessary to do in order to become self actualized will seem crazy to ordinary people. Learn about spiral dynamics, and your parents attitudes will make more sense.

[Sahil Pandit]

@Angelo D Prepare yourself to be independent as possible. This is a long, lonely road at times.

Is it worth it? Yes. Is it going to be harder than anything you've ever imagined? 100%. 

Family will not understand. How could they? They're busy with their own lives (Which for the most part, have zero to do with self actualization.)

 

[denydritz]

Hi Angelo, to answer the title of this topic, I would say: YES, family can understand us.

Our family members are human beings too, and communicating with them is the same as communicating with any other person. Perhaps the difference is in the length of the relationship and expectations each party has about that relationship.

(In your case, maybe the expectation is that your father expects you to follow his standards, while you expect your father to support your decisions)

Personal development doesn't have to appeal to the majority of people* for you and your father to understand each other. Being religious is a form of personal development, and so is moving to a new area to pursue what you want. What can you understand about your father that can help in your communication with him?

*I would argue, personal development does appeal to the majority.