We all have people that are close to us, whether it be parents, siblings, or friends. We spend much of our time with these people, and we are not afraid to be ourselves around them. Do we sometimes take for granted the fact that we’re so close to our loved ones? People tend to be more open around those they care about, which means a viewing of both good moods and bad moods. We’re usually not as afraid of lashing out at a parent or friend as compared to lashing out at a stranger or acquaintance. Why is this? Does a person really not know what he or she has until it’s gone?

Sometimes we don’t realize just how much other people do for us. That statement is especially true when you become angry with a close family member or friend. An argument once in a while is completely fine, but sometimes huge fights become all too common. When a person is not in a great mood, the first one they go to is someone close. This is because subconsciously, they know even if they lash out at this person, he or she will still always be there, even after the fighting. We would never be so cruel to a stranger. Though such expressions of emotion can hurt relationships, we figure the other person can take it.

Sometimes after a fight with someone close, there’s guilt, even if that fight was justified. This shows that we as humans are able to feel remorse for potentially hurting someone we care about. We take advantage of others because we feel we have something to gain. This could be applied to a loved one. We use the fact that we have someone who cares about us so deeply to gain something, even if unintentional. An example of this would be letting out anger at a family member even if they aren’t the one to blame. We take advantage of the fact that this family member cares so much that we release our rage onto them, which may fulfill our needs, but potentially hurt them.

In the end, we all take our loved ones for granted sometimes. It’s human nature to not realize what we have until we don’t have it anymore. It’s important to be careful and notice that the actions that we take could be hurting someone we care about. No relationship is going to be perfect, but we must try our best to keep our friends and family close to us. That way, we can realize just how much we really have.