12 Insider Thoughts of a Family Man: Balancing Conflict and Harmony

Thoughts and emotions have such a unique relationship. Just one thought can change your feelings significantly. These thoughts can turn the smile on your face into sadness, or bring a moment of happiness to your tearful eyes. Emotions hold great importance in our lives. If we didn’t have emotions, perhaps we would live like programmed machines. Somewhere, our emotions trigger our thoughts. The state of your mind influences the kind of thoughts that are triggered in it.

In life, we have to face new situations every day, and whether these situations are easy or difficult, they leave a distinct impression on our minds. Whether these impressions trigger positive or negative thoughts, they affect our subconscious mind.

As we progress through different phases of life, our thoughts change accordingly. For example, in childhood, there’s the desire for a toy and the headache of studying. In youth, there’s the stress of building a career and the first feelings of love. As we become more mature, thoughts turn to job stress and caring for aging parents. After marriage, the idea of a happy family and a comfortable life constantly occupies a person’s mind.

Although we could discuss this topic all day, today we’ll explore 12 insider thoughts that often occupy the mind of a family man. In my view, a true family man is someone who strives to keep his family united and considers caring for his family one of his life’s primary purposes. No matter how busy he gets, he always finds time for his family and constantly thinks about their well-being.

Today, I will write this article from the perspective of a married man who, as a family man, is constantly involved in managing the situations at home. Whether his marriage is new or old, these thoughts inevitably cross his mind at some point.

12 Insider Thoughts of a Family Man: Balancing Conflict and Harmony

1. Family Before Self

For a man, his family matters more than himself. No matter how high he climbs in life, a family man always prioritizes fulfilling his family’s wishes over his own. When a person works hard and earns money, it doesn’t matter to him that he is now independent, capable of covering all his expenses, and doesn’t need anyone else. What matters to him is that he can now take good care of his family and fulfill their wishes. For him, family comes first, and whatever he earns, he earns primarily for his family.

2. Ensure Family Happiness

In the mind of a family man, the constant thought is about how to keep his family happy, take care of his wife, support his parents, and ensure the proper upbringing of his children. No matter how many difficult situations he might be going through, he never thinks about himself. He will sacrifice everything for the happiness of his family. If there is tension or any issue within the household, he will remain unhappy despite having everything because his true happiness is tied to his family’s happiness. If they are not happy, how can he be happy?

3. Long-Term Financial Stability

Another thought that often comes to the mind of a family man is how to provide long-term financial stability for his family. His entire life revolves around figuring out how to make himself financially stable so he can meet his family’s needs. A family man not only has to plan for today but also for the future and the life ahead. He constantly thinks about how to keep his family stable and secure for a lifetime.

The proper use of money, investing it wisely, and ensuring financial security are his constant concerns. He keeps thinking about how, just like his parents raised him and fulfilled all his wishes, he too can provide a better future for his children and a comfortable life for his wife. It is his responsibility to take care of his parents and support them in their old age. To fulfill all these responsibilities, he works hard day and night, striving to achieve financial stability.

4. Support Ageing Parents

Our parents educated us and helped us become responsible citizens. From childhood until we could stand on our own feet, they took care of all our small and big needs, sacrificing their desires to fulfill ours. So, how can we leave them alone in their old age? This thought constantly occupies the mind of a family man.

How can he support his elderly parents while also meeting his family’s needs? Just as parents fulfill their duties, a family man must take care of his parents, attend to their needs, and ensure they have a comfortable old age. He continually thinks about how to provide a peaceful life for his parents, ensuring no care is lacking in their well-being.

5. Balancing Conflict and Harmony

A man doesn’t want any unnecessary tension in his life. He doesn’t want to deal with daily arguments, fights, or a tense atmosphere at home. He already has so many responsibilities and so much burden on his shoulders that he doesn’t have the energy to cope with these issues. Paying taxes, managing all expenses, and providing financial stability for the family keep him occupied.

If any additional problems arise, they only add to his stress. The goal of a family man is straightforward: he doesn’t want more stress in his life. He has a lot going on and carries the weight of the entire family on his shoulders, so he doesn’t need more difficulties. Therefore, he constantly thinks about how to maintain a peaceful and harmonious environment at home. He wonders what he can do to ensure love and harmony within the household so that when he returns from the outside world, he feels peace at home.

6. Dealing with Hardships of Life

A man is dealing with many things at once, and his difficulties are not easy. His mind is always occupied with something. Even when he sleeps at night, his mind isn’t stable, and as soon as he wakes up in the morning, a thought is already running through his head. The truth is that a family man goes through so many things in his life that it’s hard to explain what he’s going through.

However, being a man, he never shows these things on his face. He never reveals how much he’s suffering because he knows he has the responsibility for his family and home. If he shows that he is in trouble, the entire family’s problems could increase. A family man’s life revolves around thinking about how to deal with these circumstances, how to face these challenges, and how to move forward to lead a peaceful life. Although peace and tranquility are momentary, and real life is filled with alternating joy and suffering, a person’s life is spent facing these difficulties and trying to find moments of happiness.

7. Work-Life Balance

In the pursuit of becoming financially stable, a man becomes so engrossed in his responsibilities that he ends up dedicating more time to them than necessary. He doesn’t realize that the precious time he could spend with his family, friends, and parents is being sacrificed in the race to earn money. In such circumstances, it becomes very difficult for him to manage his home and work equally.

For a family man, balancing attention between his home and work is very challenging. As he progresses in his career, the burden of responsibilities at work increases, and similarly, responsibilities at home also start piling up on his shoulders. In such cases, while fulfilling these duties throughout the day, he often cannot even get a good night’s sleep due to the weight of these responsibilities. This thought is very common among family men, who constantly think about how to keep their personal and professional lives separate and how to be both a good husband and a good professional.

8. Living a Peaceful Life

So, this thought must have crossed every man’s mind at some point: how can he live a peaceful life? From childhood to old age, a man goes through many circumstances that are not easy for him to endure. From a young age, he is taught that he will achieve nothing in life without hard work. The way a man is raised instills in him the belief that he will have to face many hardships to survive in this world.

It’s essential to understand that the challenges a man faces are not ordinary difficulties. A family man doesn’t share his hardships with anyone; he keeps them in his heart, bearing the burden alone. Minor quarrels, household issues, and other small problems don’t matter much because he has to deal with much bigger and more impactful challenges. He has to face these difficulties and move forward so that he can think about the betterment of his family. For him, living a peaceful life remains just a dream.

9. Speak Out

A man endures a lot inside, but he never shares his feelings with anyone else. This is his weakness: he would never share his problems with anyone. You might have often seen that if you ask a man how his life is going, he will always say that everything is fine. A family man often doesn’t understand whom to go to or what to say because he fears that people won’t help but rather increase his difficulties. He can’t afford to share his troubles with others; he can’t bear to see his parents in worry, his child’s disappointment, or his wife’s sadness.

There’s always a thought running through a man’s mind: wish he could talk to someone, that he could share his feelings, someone who would listen and not elevate his pain. A family man’s life is filled with many challenges, and trusting an outsider can be risky. Therefore, he prefers not to share these thoughts with anyone.

10. Keeping Friendships Alive

Caught up in his responsibilities, a man often forgets his close friends and relatives. Frequently, a thought crosses the mind of every family man, wishing he could meet his friends today as he used to during his childhood or youth. He wishes to spend time with them just like in the old days. The friends who once swore to stay together are now so immersed in their responsibilities that they don’t even have time to talk to each other.

A family man always thinks about how he can keep his friendship bonds alive, and how he can stay connected with his friends so that their friendship never weakens. Although men’s friendships are strong, whether they talk daily or not, whenever they meet, it feels as if no time has passed since they last saw each other.

A man understands the importance of friendship and knows that having good friends is a blessing in life. If he has a few special and close friends, he will always want to stay close to them. He knows that the things he cannot share with anyone else in the world, he can share with his friends without hesitation, lightening his heart. Those friends will happily listen and give each other the strength to move forward.

11. Cry or Move On

A man often wonders whether he should cry and show weakness, or face the challenges head-on and move forward in life. It is usually said that a man never cries, as crying might make him seem weak. However, the truth is that a man can feel just as vulnerable as anyone else.

Sometimes, he also wishes that someone would support him, so he could rest his head on their shoulder and express his feelings freely. Unfortunately, doing so is quite difficult for him because of the way society perceives men.

To fulfill the needs of his family, he goes through many challenging situations that he cannot share with anyone. Often, he feels like giving up and surrendering, but instead, he chooses to confront the difficulties and move forward in life. He always decides to persevere and continue moving forward because crying and lamenting over his troubles is neither his nature nor something he has been taught. Life is a struggle, and in this struggle, he has only been taught to keep moving forward.

12. Suppress Child Within Us

And amidst these responsibilities, a family man often suppresses the child within him. Every person has a hidden child inside them that they wish to bring out, but due to their responsibilities, they always keep it suppressed. A man also wants to enjoy his life, play and have fun like a child, and live a tension-free life. He wishes to meet his friends as he used to and spend time with them earlier.

But these desires often remain just thoughts, as he has advanced so far in life that the time for showing his inner child seems to have passed. His responsibilities have drained him to the point where he has forgotten how to live freely and is focused solely on a single goal in his life. He wants to bring out the hidden child within him but fears that if he does, he might lose track of his purpose and be overwhelmed by his responsibilities.

However, no matter what, we should never forget our childhood because life is not just about facing difficulties and fulfilling responsibilities. It’s also about living for oneself. If we want to truly live for ourselves, we must sometimes forget everything else for a moment and live just for ourselves.

Fighting Your Own Thoughts | Sadhguru

Conclusion

To Conclude, Thoughts make us human and distinguish us from machines. Our thoughts are closely linked to our emotions; the type of emotions we are experiencing often influences the nature of our thoughts. In this article, we explored certain recurring thoughts that persist in the minds of a family man, particularly those related to the challenges and responsibilities they face.

Although these thoughts might be common among many people, the goal of this article is to delve into the deeper aspects of these thoughts. Whether it’s taking on family responsibilities or prioritizing family over oneself, a person often finds happiness in their family’s well-being. They frequently contemplate how to provide financial stability for their family to alleviate their burdens. Balancing office responsibilities, they also think about how to give equal attention to their home life.

We also examined how they want to keep their friends and loved ones close and bring out their inner child. However, due to the weight of these responsibilities, they find it difficult to do so. Thus, these thoughts often remain just thoughts, that they ponder but struggle to act upon.