괜찮아요

It’s not uncommon for someone to be having multiple social roles at the same time. In fact, it’s hardly surprising or new to anyone to hear about this. However, maybe in this 21st century, the very fact that all of us possess multiple social roles may cause strains in our lives and our relationships with others. Let’s take a look at some of our roles:

Family -
parent/child/bro.sis/grandchild/cousin/nephew.niece/
husband.wife/father.mother

If we are living with the family, more often than not, we are ‘obliged’ to attend family functions, which may at times happen to crash with our schedules. Of course, to many, it should be deemed as a blessing to have a family and to be able to attend family functions, and that you should count yourself fortunate to be able to have some bonding time with the people closest to your heart. However, ask yourself frankly, can you actually fulfill all your duties as {fill-in any of the roles above}? Or do you feel that it’s a hassle?

For some families which are close-knit, you do meet up frequently and whenever there’s an event or problem, some, if not most, of your families are mobilized. Of course, it’s really nice to be involved in one another’s life, but at times, this might be a little too overwhelming for some to bear. When you are single, you need not care too much; but when you are married, decisions are not to be made on your own, it’s become a shared-decision-making situation. If you have children, in the early years (if you do not hire a maid or leave it for your parents to take care of your child), you do have to try to be there for your child’s growing stages. And in the later years, you do have to rush home to do housework chores, cook and care for your children’s academic and spiritual growth. Oh, and you do need to have some parent-child bonding session on top of bonding time with your life partner.

School – Student

Parents (or generally adults) like to say “your primary task as a child is just to study, be a good student in school“. That would have been ideal if a child is merely just a student. Parents usually have high hopes for their children mainly because this generation of parents were deprived of the chance to study when they were young, so they want the best for their children, by fulfilling their own unrealized dreams. Actually, there’s nothing wrong with them wanting their children to study. However, in their effort to push their children towards the giant pool of competition (and with the advancement in technology too), children are losing control over what was previously fondly known as childhood.

At the same time, most tertiary education students are doing part-time work while studying too. There might be a need for them to do so at times, when family financial ability is not able to see them through their studies and/or family needs. Other times, it might because they want to get out of the house, and earn some pocket money of their own. For those who are more active (or if you are in high school/JC level and below), you will need to be involved in at least one CCA. Oh, and has anyone wondered what kind of superpower character we might be when we have to juggle with a dozen more subjects (when we proceed from Primary to Secondary) and project work, and maybe the SYF competitions?

Work – employee

If you are married with children, besides trying to handle the pile of work that is on your work-desk, you might be swarmed with worries about your children. Sometimes, if you do not happen to have an understanding boss or cooperative colleagues, good luck, time to consider if you can handle all the workload dumped onto you. Some students who are doing part-time job, maybe as a tutor, besides trying to cope with your own studies, you have to make sure you have enough energy to prepare materials for your students and be able to teach them in that arena. Well, it’s not always that easy, not when you have many tutees.

Other commitment(s)

Okay, for some, be it in church as a mentor/youth leader, or some other organizations as a youth leader, here’s another role for you. You are to plan, organize and deal with matters just like how a manager/facilitator would in an company environment (not that it’s like that, just somewhat similar). You too, have your ups and downs; your time spent on other matters in life. This is also applicable to those who are serving as an alumni for past CCA groups. Sometimes, you really have to salute these people who would come back and are concerned about your CCA’s growth for free (ya, alumni are usually not paid to come back and train you hello). They too, give up their personal time and travelling fees.

 Well, the list is not exhaustive.

Com’on, give yourself a pat on the back and say “Good job!” because you really deserve this. We are all morphing into superpower characters which may (hopefully) be handling so many different social roles all at one go without thinking twice a moment more.