Societal pressure never ends

_{image sourced and edited by me, using canva}

Being born into a world like ours where there's already a set down way of life or should I say rules that are certain things always expected from us, it is therefore unavoidable to be faced with societal pressure. Which in my understanding means to be expected to play by the norms.

As a girl child, right from a young age, I've been constantly reminded to behave like a girl, you are not allowed to explore, that is left for the boys to do, then the academic and peer pressure sets in, to always ace your scores irrespective of the fact that you might have interest in other extracurricular activities, this doesn't stop there, you try to do your best in school, your peers find it offensive, that you are too studios, you should rather have fun partying, dating, clubbing, drinking, smoking, etc while you are young than spend your time trying to calm the pressure from your parent to be your best.

source

Alas! You graduated from school, overcoming the pressures, and you are happy thinking it's all over now, but you receive your greatest shock, now the real pressure just started from getting a good job, getting married, and having children at the right time, but is there an equal right time for everyone? Our culture and religion don't even make it better for us, as a woman now I'm expected to act like it's fine at all times even though it isn't, because a woman is expected to hold her home together even if the man acts careless its the woman responsibilities to satisfy everyone at the expense of her happiness, also, as a woman I'm expected to be successful but not than my husband because I will be termed disrespectful if I try to counter his decision that I don't feel comfortable with.

The pressure never really stops, so how do we cope, do we follow as they say or live the best way we find comfortable? I will rather choose to live at my own comfort, pace and desire, what I do to stay above pressures;

1 Stay motivated

It's easier to be persuaded if you don't find motivation, always endeavor to have something that keeps you motivated into achieving your goal and not going off the track when are not yet ready. If the society finds a successful woman to be a threat to her home, it's their opinion, not mine and my home, I still stay motivated and the fire burns for more success.

2 stay away from hot zones

If you feel the environment you are in is the reason why you feel pressured, it's best to stay away from such an environment, a friend of mine had to leave her parent place to her friend's house because they were pressurizing her to get married while she was not ready, Marriage is a lifetime journey, it's better to take your time and be ready instead of rushing in and rushing out, imagine the number of divorces we have in the world today. If checked, a lot of them bowed to pressure and ended in the wrong arms.

3 Be happy

Be happy with yourself and your little wins, when you appreciate how far you've come, it is hard to be pressurized into doing what you don't want to do, also, know your self-worth, for example, knowing the adverse effect that comes with taking drugs, drinking, etc some people still fall into peer pressure, doing what they ought not to do if they had value for themselves, they not yield to the pressure if their pears.

Conclusion
The truth is that people will always have an opinion on how they think you should live your life, but it's the way you decide to live your life that matters, all opinions should be analyzed by you, put the good opinions into use, and pay deaf ears to the one that doesn't.

This post is in response to the hive learners weekly contest, week 48, edition 3.

Thank you for reading.💗💗