GROWING UP
Hi people. I
did not post last week sorry about that. Was actually pretty blank on what to
write tried to push it to the next day, still blank. For someone like me who
always has a lot to say you’d think I had like 10 articles lined up to post.
Well apparently not.
This week I
am dedicating this article to the generation of young people behind me. It is
also pretty personal because I will reveal a lot of how I grew up. I realized
that my audience is not strictly African so who knows how this will go.
I was raised
in a middle class African family. Pretty normal to me at least until you start
to interact with the outside world and realize that you are not as normal as
you thought.
In my country there
is this identity crisis I have when I interact with people of a higher social
class or a lower social class. They both have something to point out that you
do not do quite right. You can feel totally underestimated and like you are
always out to prove yourself. Well technically I usually do not care but I have
seen my friends struggle with a simple decision like living in a lower income
area because they grew up in a middle class area. So they end up living beyond
their means just to fit in. That doesn’t make sense to me. Well let me share a
bit about where I come from [my family] to gain some perspective.
What I know
is one thing, I was raised not to fit in but to lead. In whatever way possible
I was to lead. Everyone is good at something and I was taught not to compare
myself with others.
I was raised not
that I should marry a rich man but that I too can make it in life. It is not an
impossible task, it’s just that some people take longer to get there than
others.
No one in my
family who followed their passion ever regretted it, in our family we are encouraged
to follow our passions, there was always a huge support system. Men always take
the lead and are always the greatest source of support. My grand father led the
way being one of the few men of his generation who believed in girl child
education. I may be blessed with such a
family but if your support system isn’t your family then pick friends who can
be.
There are
people who are in your life for a season and some for a lifetime either way
cherish the time. If it ends it doesn’t have to be on a bad note but let’s face
it that’s not always possible. As you mature in life you realize people walking
in and out of your life is normal.
My mother
believed in being a home maker just as much as being a career woman. There are
just some roles that even if we don’t like them as women they need our touch.
Yes we live in the day and age of independent women but it’s still nice to be
able to keep some of our femininity and just be girls. No one said we cannot
have a career if we want to.
I was also taught to be discreet. The way
people go shaming people all over the place, it was never encouraged in our
family. It’s you who got the negativity in the end and people will either look
down on you or pity you, which never helps at all in any form. Being the
subject of family gossip can really take a toll and generally hurts your
reputation and makes
people perceive you in a certain way.
All in all.
My advice is do not be a victim of your circumstances. Just make the best of
what life gives you. No situation lasts forever. Life is hard enough as it is
why complicate it.
John
10:10 The thief
does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that
they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
