In any family that contains two or more children, there is a sense of rivalry throughout the family. Adele Faber describes it perfectly: “Take two children competing for the love and attention of their parents. Added to this is the envy that one child feels for the other's achievements; the resentment each child feels for the other's privileges; personal frustrations that dare not take out on anyone other than a brother or sister, and it's not hard to see why in families across the country, the sibling relationship contains enough emotional dynamite to set off series of daily explosions. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, rivalry is defined as a “competition.” In the August 13, 2011 issue of Insight Magazine, "Rivalry: A deadly sin" was written by Ali Newby, a recent journalism graduate. In this article she describes the struggle she had to face to be herself and the realization that sibling rivalry is dangerous. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe article begins with a funeral. Preston, the author's older brother, was killed in an accident while assisting someone on the side of the road and Ali feels terrible when she realizes how childish their sibling rivalry was. As such, she is seen berating herself for having unacceptable thoughts and indirectly excused as a habit. She stated that “I regretted it when I realized what I was telling myself. I knew this sibling rivalry was childish, but the relationship had been like this for as long as I could remember.” All his life he lived in the shadow of his older brother. He was considered perfect, as he was good at practically everything he did; he had achieved excellent grades in school and “could immediately play any instrument he had learned”. Newby did not like this at all, as he was expected to be at his level or even grow more than his brother's expectations. Therefore she struggled to be herself and escape the place under her brother's shadow. At one point in the article, she stated that the pressure had become too much for her and as a result she exploded, aggressively pouring out all of her pent-up frustration throughout her life. Preston was shocked by his sister's feelings and sincerely apologized, explaining that he didn't realize she felt that way. This experience ultimately clarified things between brother and sister, but it certainly didn't erase the psychological scars that marked the last 19 years of his life. After Newby lost her brother, she became bitter and lonely towards her peers and her family. She felt depressed thinking about the injustice of life; the fact that he lost his brother after reconciling their feelings over the decade plus rivalry. It seemed cruel to her. However, with time, the wounds began to heal little by little, especially after he recognized that his little brother was also experiencing the same sibling rivalry. Afterward, she comforted him and explained that he did not need to live up to his expectations that God had created him to be his own person. This event taught Newby how dangerous sibling rivalry can be if left unaddressed. Negative emotions, such as anger, discouragement, and resentment, can eventually destroy the sibling relationship and over time will spread throughout the family, ruining the home and everyone who lives in it. He decided he didn't want that to happen, to let someone else feel the pain that.
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