Friends or Family?

AS a language learner, I’m often asked the same questions: “Which is more important for you, your friends or family?” There are no exact answer to his question, which makes me feel uncomfortable to talke about. Therefore. I’ve already prepared an answer for it. “For me, my friends are more important than my parents”. That’s my opinion. But the most important part comes after this: ”Why???”. As a matter of fact, most of my teachers or classmates usually object to or question my idea since they value their parents rather than their friendships. Okay, fair enough, I’ll present my point of view in respect to relationships.

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact you cannot choose your parents. Whereas, with friends, you can find someone who has something in common with and build a great relationship. In termes of the benefits we can receive, I’m sure nobody thinks about this topic as it’s kind of an arrogant idea, but there are many things to learn from being on good terms with your fellows. I also believe that this is also necessary to survive in our stressful society. 

In addition, you parents will most likely pass away before you do. If you rely too much on your parents, not only can you not be independent from your parents, but also the loneliness of losing them will be devastating. Apparently what you need is friends who can back you up. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s okay to treat our parents halfheartedly, like how many teenagers do during their adolescence. More precisely, we ought to care for our parents for sure, but they are no nearly as important as friends for those reasons I have mentioned above. The point is that you can’t choose your life, but you can choose your companions for life.