People say that a sister is one’s best female friend. Nothing has been more true. I am lucky to have my younger sister, who is also my only sibling. The bond with a younger sister or any other sibling is something special that should always be cherished. Since my sister and I had the same upbringing and been through similar situations, it feels like she always understands me. Also, since we differ less than two years, we went through similar things at almost the same time. Still the most precious thing of this sister bond is to have learnt so much from my younger sister by being a big sister for her, including the following 7 things.

To protect and be responsible for somebody
As I was the oldest at home, I was the first one who went through the whole process of growing up: making friends, going to primary school, choosing my study program at university, traveling abroad alone, etc. This way, I always had acted as an example for my younger sister. Since a very young age, I have taken this task very seriously. I tried to be responsible for my sister by protecting her and keeping her away from the mistakes that I made before. So, by being a sister I learnt to be responsible for someone in a natural way.

To make better choices
Related to the above point, I shared with her my learning so that she did not have to make the same faults as I did. This enabled me to reflect on my past mistakes and to make better decisions in the future.

To love and care about others
My parents are the first ones who came into my life and gave me unconditional love. For my little sister, my parents and I are part of her life from the very beginning on. Hence, as soon as she came into my life, I unconsciously learn how to love her and other people that came later into my life, the same way my parents did to me.

To share things
By sharing my toys and candies with my younger sister and seeing how happy she would be, I soon understood the meaning of sharing with others, instead of keeping it all to myself.

To realise that I can also be wrong
How ironically it may sound, it is by showing my little sister how to do things the right way that I am more aware of my own mistakes. In many situations she acted more mature. Often I felt even that my little sister was more grown up than me. So, I found out that being a bigger sister did not mean that I do things right all the time. With this also came the realisation that age does not say anything about someone’s ability to act wisely.

To show empathy and look things from another perspective
Every time if I saw my sister cry, I found it difficult to withhold my tears from rolling. It might be because of our blood-relatedness, but often it was like I really felt her pain. By knowing how to show empathy and compassion towards other people, I already learnt to embrace a skill that would prove to be very important in the “adult world”.

To maintain and grow deep friendships
When I was younger the age difference between my sister and I felt so much bigger than now. By being the first one to take endeavours, I was acting like an example to her. Now that we are both adults our sisterhood had turned into a ‘best friends’-relationship. It is one that I am very proud of and which functions as inspiration for other precious relationships in my life.

Do you have siblings? What are the best lessons you learnt from them? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time!

Love always,

Mee-Ling