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To Be In My Shoes

 Washing of clothes is a chore I love and I enjoy performing. I usually wash tons of clothes on Saturdays for my family except my little sister's. Despite the huge number of clothes; I often have some music on or listen to the radio to make it more exciting. One Saturday as I was carrying on my duty, a friend of the family who was dropping off some clothes she had sewed for my mother, started off a conversation with me. 
Midway, she blurted out "how I wish I worked in an office like you". I looked up, smiled yet rolling my eyes at her in my mind. 
So here it goes, she is a mother of four and as a Seamstress she works from home in a shop just in front of her house. Her daily routine is to wake up at dawn, wash, prepare breakfast, see the children off to school and gets working. In the evening she prepares supper then gets back to work and closes at 10pm. This routine goes on even on the weekends. 
Not understanding her point I asked why.
 “Because you get to rest on the weekends” she replied.
"Oh only that" I responded
“My mom had always wanted me to go to Secondary School but I opted to learn dress making which I regret and wish I could turn back the hands of time.” I listened without a word. Her words tumbling from her lips “And do you know why? I shook my head. She replied “A seamstress we once shared a compound with proudly displayed  her measuring tape as an ornament around her neck. Being a teenager and seeing her beautiful designs; I greatly admired her and chose to be like her."Whilst my best friend enrolled and now works in a Bank, chopping big money and enjoying her life"  
 In my mind I was calling her ungrateful for the reason that I always had the perception that she has a flexible job since she worked from home. Being her own boss, spending time with her children and not getting stressed out from a 9-5 job, vehicular and human traffic, dealing with co-workers and superiors. However she never saw it as a convenient job. She felt I could relax on the weekends, have sometime for myself since there was no work in the  office for me to go to. But her office was right before her, where there is no leave, weekend-free or holidays to enjoy. Plus combining it with her family life wasn't making it easier. Whilst I keep complaining about an 8 hour job, she worked her butt and never taking a break despite being her own boss. Most of us in the formal working sector dream of being entrepreneurs. Getting all excited about managing our own business, working at our own schedule and choosing the kind of people we want to work with. Yet being blind to the other side of it all.
We are never comfortable in our own shoes but wish to be in someone’s because it seems they are rocking them. But just think about it, the sizes and types vary. Whilst you may be wearing a flat shoe, mine may be a heel or a sneaker. Your size may be a 36 and mine 40. 
Beneath that coat of smiles and happiness lies some sort of pain. Nobody shows the world how unhappy one is. As you are craving for someone else’s life, another desires for yours. 
 Just be grateful for the moment you are in because it might not be bad as you think.



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  1. Unknown16 March 2018 at 12:09

    Herh sometimes u wash for me😂
    Buh it's great tho👌
    People tink we doing our own jobs we dnt get stressed 😕

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown16 March 2018 at 13:15

    Interesting piece! Many times, we tend to compare the "finished look" of others lives to our "behind the scenes." In my
    own life, my class mates assume that I'm living in heaven just because i school in the states. They forget I'm doing much more school work, dealing with the unfavourable winter weather, under pressure to work full time to support myself, while accumulating student loans. I am definately sharing this on facebook so that we all can learn to be content with what we have.

    ReplyDelete

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