Over the years, we've come to understand that family is the cornerstone of our lives. It has served as a shield, refuge, and safe haven from the challenges of the world. Family is the bedrock of happiness and love, a safe haven where you're loved and cherished unconditionally, without any strings attached. I am a living testament to that, as my family has been my source of happiness. Today, I'd love to share my experience.

The role of a family in a person's life cannot be overstated. The family operates like a team, doing everything together - from fighting to laughing, crying, and celebrating. Even when it feels like everyone else has abandoned you, your family will always be there for you. That's why they say that family is a perfect definition of love. Below, I will share my story to provide a better understanding.

While growing up, for some reasons, I stayed with a group of individuals who weren't my immediate family members. Throughout those days, I never truly felt loved or knew what true happiness in life was. This was because of how I was mistreated, given less privilege to access, deprived of many things, and burdened with overwhelming tasks. Despite living with about 7 people under the same roof, I felt lonely and craved the presence of my parents and siblings.

Fortunately, I was finally able to move in with them after several years in that place, and immediately I moved in with my parents, my life experienced a drastic change. I went from not having a say to being asked for my opinion on matters, what to eat, where to go, and even getting to be included in family plans, explorations, and the like. I am loving it, and after a long time, I started to know what it feels like to be loved and happy. The feeling is fulfilling and exciting.

I believe that the maltreatment I experienced had a negative impact on my academic performance. While I was in that environment, I was always scolded and belittled whenever I came home with poor results from school. Hearing those words made me feel like I was a horrible person. When I relocated to my parents' place, I realized that I wasn't really bad, but the maltreatment and overwhelming tasks had prevented me from concentrating on my studies, which affected my performance.

Even though I still had poor results when I first moved back home, the way my parents approached the situation was much better. They calmly helped me understand the importance of taking my academics seriously, assisted me with difficult assignments, and encouraged me to make time for studying. As a result, I went from being an average student in my class to one of the best, which brought me a lot of happiness.

The experiences I've had in life have made me become a family-oriented person who is thrilled about anything related to family for the happiness it brings and the love it showcases. I have decided to list a few roles of family in promoting happiness.

Emotional Support: As seen in my life experiences shared above, one of the significant ways family contributes to one's happiness is through emotional support. Their availability to stick with us through thick and thin, happy or sad moments, rejoicing or crying, fosters happiness through their understanding and encouragement. This support helps us navigate life challenges more easily and brings about overall well-being.

Shared Experience: The shared experiences with my family bring me a great deal of joy. These moments create lasting happiness that we can reminisce about over time. Whether it's celebrating birthdays, going on vacation, or having a picnic, these experiences give me a sense of belonging and they contribute to my overall happiness.

Unconditional Love: As I mentioned earlier, family is one of the few places where you can receive love unconditionally. This concept fosters happiness, in my opinion. When the world turns its back on you, knowing that there are people who still cherish you, regardless of others' opinions, can bring a sense of happiness in the face of such challenges.

That's about it on my experience and how I cultivate happiness through family. I can assure you that you can do the same as well. However, there are key things you must put in place with your family to achieve this. They are as follows:

• Quality time
• Effective communication
• Supportive environment
• Shared responsibility
• Expressing gratitude

All of these elements together go a long way in cultivating an atmosphere of happiness within your family, which helps everyone to lead a happier life.

---

LPUD

---

I'm excited to participate in another Leo power-up day with other Hive users to increase my Leo power. I've staked a total of 2035 Leo tokens in my account after adding 300 Leo tokens today, which has elevated my rank from a kitten to a new-born cub in the Lion Pride of Inleo.

---

---

_{Screenshot from Inleo.io}

The Inleo team has been working hard to improve not just their frontend but also the Hive blockchain. I'm committed to supporting their efforts by staking more Leo, using the frontend to publish, subscribing to Premium, and more.

One of their recent projects that I'm particularly enthusiastic about is the Leodex trading and swap websites, which allow users to trade and monitor token prices efficiently and swiftly. Transactions are completed at lightning speed.

---

This is my entry for the day 15 of the #mayinleo prompt of the INLeo initiative, if you'd love to participate, you can read days about it in the announcement post.

---

Thanks so much for your time. Have a wonderful day ahead and stay blessed.

---

_{Thumbnail designed on canva}

---