Oh! The pressure, the pressure to succeed. Such a push to be this or that, to be doing this or accomplishing that. Culture, society, friends, family and even foes constantly remind us consciously or unconsciously, that we may not be the best that we can be. We are raised, believing certain types of jobs are the way to go, that certain ages are milestone ages whereby, this or that must have been achieved and the world conquered.
The pressure to be the best, the most handsome or most beautiful, the smartest person in the room or the richest, basically, be successful. All of these for a minute now has had me wondering; so while we can’t control the world at large, we can start with our little corner, our home, our families and friends. So here goes:
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Dear family, why are we never enough?
Don’t get me wrong; we understand it all comes from a place of love. Riddle me this though, how is me doing me, not enough? With the constant push to succeed, to have achieved this by a certain age, or to have spurted so many kids of all sexes by such and such age, girl or boy inclusive, we forget to live for us and start living for you. Eventually, we become shells of ourselves and gradually lock up for fear of disappointment or failure. We are so adamant in our pursuit to make you proud, that we forget to breathe. Our very essence suffers, and our desires doused.
It gets confusing too, because while we are told to live out our dreams, to reach for the sky, there is a caveat. These dreams are supposed to match your thoughts and wishes for us. For harmony to reign, our lives are to align with the hopes and aspirations you have for us, so something has to give and that turns out eventually to be our dreams.
This is thus a note to every family or friend out there. While you love and want the best for us, love, as I understand, is all about intending good for the other. In your own way, this is how best you know to show us love. But, it is a harsh world out there, do not insist we follow a certain kind of rule book nor ask we do it your way, for in so doing, you clip our wings and put us in a box.
While you nurture and give us that push in life to live out our best lives, leave us to explore our options, feed our souls and eventually make our own choices. Leave us to discover life on our own terms and to follow our hearts. And when we fall, let us know we can come to you; and please do not utter those dreaded words of ‘I told you.’ Show us love and compassion, leave us to wet your shoulder pads with our tears when need be. Stand with us as we try to stand again.
Trust you raised us right and have armed us for a world that takes no prisoners. Trust you taught us right from wrong, good from evil and properly nurtured our very essence. Trust you gave us the tools to navigate this life and be confident we will live full lives. And if somehow, we lose our way, be the home we come back to, the love we seek, and the family we need.
Have you ever thought about why you are not enough for your family or society? How can we change the narrative, and live out our lives to the fullest? Join in on the conversation. Love this article? Why don’t you share it with your network! And also subscribe, so you don’t miss out on amazing pieces, like this one.
About The Author: Laetitia Moukouri is an experienced technical professional, writer and Editor-in-Chief at Letstalknationblog.com. She loves exploring people’s minds, through their written work, as she is a proponent for learning new things. You can connect with her on Instagram & Linkedin with Laetitia Moukouri.
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