Enjoy Being with Your Siblings Better than a Billionaire

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Over the weekend, I heard my wife describe growing up with her brother. Although I hadn't known either of them then, the stories reminded me of when I was growing up with my sister.

I suspect that anyone who has had siblings has had the following experiences:

physical fights;
getting a sibling in trouble with parents;
squabbling over shared resources;
feeling resentful about having to spend time with a sibling;
teaming up against parents;
looking out for each other at school;
providing advice about how to handle the opposite sex;
and great outings together.

After you grow up, some of the bad stuff still hangs around. It's a good idea to clear out whatever those bad feelings are. Then, you can just focus on the positive side.

Here's a good way to start:

Invite your sibling for a special day together. Keep the rest of your family at bay. Pick something that you both love to do. Pay attention to your sibling. Tell her or him that you love them and appreciate having such a wonderful sibling. Reminisce about what you enjoyed about being their sibling while growing up. Tell them how proud you are of what they have accomplished. At the end of the day, ask your sibling what he or she would like to do together in the future. Chances are that there will be some deeply felt sharing that follows. Arrange right then to follow up and do at least one of those activities.

Here are some things to avoid:

Don't complain about your sibling when others are around. Don't tell embarrassing stories about your sibling. Don't tell your sibling's secrets.

Doing those things will simply undercut the trust and friendship that you are trying to build.

Here are some good habits to develop:

Call your sibling regularly just for a chat. Remember your sibling's birthday, anniversary and on holidays.

Most importantly, be your sibling's confidant. What does that mean? Your sibling still has problems at home, at work and elsewhere. Like you did when you were both young, you can be the person your sibling shares her or his frustrations with. Listen and be emotionally supportive. Ask your sibling if he or she wants any advice or help.

How can you start this confidence sharing? Tell your sibling about your hopes, fears and frustrations. Thank your sibling gratefully for hearing you out and being supportive . . . even if they don't play those roles very well. They will gradually get the idea.

Ultimately, the best opportunity for long-term closeness is to help your sibling become close to your spouse and children. Plan family activities that make that possible and pleasant. When I was growing up, my father had two sisters who lived within 110 miles of us. On every major holiday, we took turns hosting the three families. I adored those chances to see my aunts, uncles and cousins. I have remained much closer to these cousins than to any of my other cousins. It was a great gift that my parents and my aunts and uncles gave to all of us.

Can a billionaire do better? I doubt it.

Billionaire families may be subject to a little extra envy. It's not unusual to read about billionaire siblings suing each other over money matters. Parental estates may be contested for decades. Fortunately, most of the rest of us don't have anything worth squabbling over.

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Here are some upcoming subjects:

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at historic New England to locate fabulous historic homes there.

Wednesday will provide a chance to look at how you can enjoy professional football games more.

Thursday, I'll share with you how you can create a more beautiful environment around you to truly enjoy beautiful living.

Friday, let's look at how to plan a perfect birthday for yourself for truly beautiful living.

On Saturday, we'll go back to college together to stimulate our minds.

Sunday, I will share with you the pleasures of Bible study groups.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that I posted on November 2. The table of contents will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 31 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

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If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Create Your Own 2,000 Percent Solutions at
http://2000percentsolutions.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell