The longer we ignore red flags, pretend they don’t exist, the more we disconnect from ourselves. –Sherrie Campbell
If you are questioning a family relationship, especially if you are at the point of debating a reduction in contact or even cutoff, try the flags. Pull from your memories and start planting. It might be uncomfortable. Be fair. Plant green ones for those good times. Not sure, yellow. Have plenty of red flags on hand for those past painful situations. This is not to encourage keeping grudges, but to prevent you from going back into a situation that may not be good for your well-being. If you end up with a display with more green and yellow, than hooray – it is not as bad as you thought. If you have more than a few red flags, stop initiating and limit contact.