~ FAMILY~ My Greatest Treasure
Sitting here, staring at the computer. I wonder why I even had to grow up? I can't believe I'm almost two and a half decade old. I always thought I was still a happy kid with a stress-free life. But, this morning I realized that I'm no longer a little child. I'm grown up into a young lady which has bunch of responsibilities and commitments.
They say as you grow older, you will start loving your family more. It's absolutely true in my life. Since young, I disliked my family. It's not that I hated them, I just felt that my life was controlled. I was disappointed because I was never allowed to take my own decisions. Until the age of 17, even the clothes I wear were decided by my family. I was not allowed to have friends. I was not allowed to go out unnecessarily. My grandmother will never let me sleep after 9am in the morning. Household chores, I was taught how to handle them as early as 10 years old. I felt bugged and unloved. I hated the fact that I was not able to enjoy the childhood life like other kids my age at that time. That was when I made a promise to myself to leave home when I was 18. All I wanted was to be away from home and live life based on my own terms. Honestly, that was one of my motivations to study hard and pass in flying colors in my secondary school public exam.
I wanted to live alone. After my results were published, I never wait any longer. I immediately started to apply for universities and colleges which are far and far away from home. My only goal was to "run" away from my family. Yes, I achieved my goal. I left home in the age of 18 to pursue my higher education. I was offered to study in a university which was almost 280km from my hometown. Unlike other kids, I was not sad that I have to leave home. I was in cloud nine. I did the preparations eagerly and counted the days to leave to my new phase of life. Once I arrived, for the first time, I saw mom tearing in front of me. She hugged me and I knew she cried. I always thought they wanted to get rid of me. Life was all fine. I finally get to be alone and live life in the way I wanted to. No financial worries as my mom sends me money every month and my boyfriend financially supported me too. I went to college, slept in until 2pm on holidays, I slept late at night. Life was good and happy, in my terms.
However, as time flies I noticed the difference. I completed my Diploma in the year 2015 and entered the working era. This was when changes started to happen in life. As I grew up, I became matured and started to think like an adult. I thought about why one should wake up early in the morning and sleep early at night. I started to ponder on every life lessons that were taught by my mom and grandmother when I was a little girls. And, this time, it made sense. Once I have started working, I had to be fully independent. I no longer live in the hostel sponsored by the college I studied in earlier. I moved out to a normal rented house consists of some other girls who were students. But, we had to be independent in handing our chores. Washing machine was provided in the house, so we had to wash our clothes by hand. This time, I thanked my grandmother who taught me how to hand-wash clothes when I was a teenager. Since I had the experience of washing clothes by hand, this task did not seem very difficult to me. I got allergic to outside food and I had to cook my own meals at home. I never knew how would I even survived if I never learned cooking when I was a kid back then? My grandmother made sure I knew basic cooking. So, I managed to cook my own food at home. As I became a working adult, I started thanking my family for molding me into an independent young woman who can handle things by her own.
After about a year of full time working, I started my degree studies where life got even harder. I had limited time and I had to juggle between my studies and also job. Both were equally important to me. I need to study in order to achieve my academic qualification and to support my studies, I need to work. Life became tough. I have to work the whole day and rush to class after that. I have to make sure my notes and assignment are up to date. The worst time is during the exam season. I had to burn the midnight oil to make sure I am all prepared for the exam. I remember crying due to the extreme level of stress that I could not cope up with. So, I must make sure that I have enough sleep and also enough time to complete my study materials.For all these, I must be a good time manager. This reminds me of my grandmother who always said, things need to be done accordingly on their relevant time. Don't mix and match your chores. Priorities on top and then followed by not-so-important tasks. If only I was never taught all these, I would not know how will be my life like now with a congested lifestyle.
So to all the young kids and teenagers, trust me. Do not get offended when your parents are hard with you. Sometimes, they are only hard because they want you to grow up as an independent and capable individual. You will never know the value of your family till the day you have to stay away from them :(
They say as you grow older, you will start loving your family more. It's absolutely true in my life. Since young, I disliked my family. It's not that I hated them, I just felt that my life was controlled. I was disappointed because I was never allowed to take my own decisions. Until the age of 17, even the clothes I wear were decided by my family. I was not allowed to have friends. I was not allowed to go out unnecessarily. My grandmother will never let me sleep after 9am in the morning. Household chores, I was taught how to handle them as early as 10 years old. I felt bugged and unloved. I hated the fact that I was not able to enjoy the childhood life like other kids my age at that time. That was when I made a promise to myself to leave home when I was 18. All I wanted was to be away from home and live life based on my own terms. Honestly, that was one of my motivations to study hard and pass in flying colors in my secondary school public exam.
I wanted to live alone. After my results were published, I never wait any longer. I immediately started to apply for universities and colleges which are far and far away from home. My only goal was to "run" away from my family. Yes, I achieved my goal. I left home in the age of 18 to pursue my higher education. I was offered to study in a university which was almost 280km from my hometown. Unlike other kids, I was not sad that I have to leave home. I was in cloud nine. I did the preparations eagerly and counted the days to leave to my new phase of life. Once I arrived, for the first time, I saw mom tearing in front of me. She hugged me and I knew she cried. I always thought they wanted to get rid of me. Life was all fine. I finally get to be alone and live life in the way I wanted to. No financial worries as my mom sends me money every month and my boyfriend financially supported me too. I went to college, slept in until 2pm on holidays, I slept late at night. Life was good and happy, in my terms.
However, as time flies I noticed the difference. I completed my Diploma in the year 2015 and entered the working era. This was when changes started to happen in life. As I grew up, I became matured and started to think like an adult. I thought about why one should wake up early in the morning and sleep early at night. I started to ponder on every life lessons that were taught by my mom and grandmother when I was a little girls. And, this time, it made sense. Once I have started working, I had to be fully independent. I no longer live in the hostel sponsored by the college I studied in earlier. I moved out to a normal rented house consists of some other girls who were students. But, we had to be independent in handing our chores. Washing machine was provided in the house, so we had to wash our clothes by hand. This time, I thanked my grandmother who taught me how to hand-wash clothes when I was a teenager. Since I had the experience of washing clothes by hand, this task did not seem very difficult to me. I got allergic to outside food and I had to cook my own meals at home. I never knew how would I even survived if I never learned cooking when I was a kid back then? My grandmother made sure I knew basic cooking. So, I managed to cook my own food at home. As I became a working adult, I started thanking my family for molding me into an independent young woman who can handle things by her own.
After about a year of full time working, I started my degree studies where life got even harder. I had limited time and I had to juggle between my studies and also job. Both were equally important to me. I need to study in order to achieve my academic qualification and to support my studies, I need to work. Life became tough. I have to work the whole day and rush to class after that. I have to make sure my notes and assignment are up to date. The worst time is during the exam season. I had to burn the midnight oil to make sure I am all prepared for the exam. I remember crying due to the extreme level of stress that I could not cope up with. So, I must make sure that I have enough sleep and also enough time to complete my study materials.For all these, I must be a good time manager. This reminds me of my grandmother who always said, things need to be done accordingly on their relevant time. Don't mix and match your chores. Priorities on top and then followed by not-so-important tasks. If only I was never taught all these, I would not know how will be my life like now with a congested lifestyle.
So to all the young kids and teenagers, trust me. Do not get offended when your parents are hard with you. Sometimes, they are only hard because they want you to grow up as an independent and capable individual. You will never know the value of your family till the day you have to stay away from them :(
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