Collective self esteem

My Family

When I was trying to decide what group to categorize my self in I had a really hard time doing this.. Until I realized my most important group is my family group.. This group is not only my actual family but also very close people who I consider my family. These people have positive and sometimes negative effects on my self esteem and who I am. These people make me who I am.. I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, as well as many other side of myself. Of course there are definitions of who are members of this group and who are not. I see my self as the matriarch of my family group, because my family is who I want it to include. I am in charge of who I decide is in my family.. Even though there are those who I was born related to that does not make them in my family group.There are several people whom I am related to that I could never see being in my family group and then there are people that are not even blood that I consider my family.  My very close friend is a major member of my family group. She is like another mother to my kids and is always there like a sister. She knows she is one of us. She tells people all the time that we are her other family. There are those relatives of my long time boyfriend who I call my family even though technically they are not related to me. They all treat my kids and me like we are part of their family group. As that is how we treat them.  With all the members of my group that are not related it was a journey to get to know them all before they were silently accepted into my family group. This is even true with my boyfriend whom I can not imagine having my family group without. My personal connection to this group is strong, sometimes there is a little weakness but we always come back. I feel a great sense of pride in my family group, I think I did well in creating this little group of people. When I think about my group I feel a sense of accomplishment and joy to know that I have such wonderful supportive people who are there to take care of me. Outsiders tend to view my family group as good people. Most all think that this group of  people who take care of each other and that are always there for each other is a positive thing. There is some negativity but it never outweighs the positive. Being a member of this group is  a large part of my identity and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!