RELATIONSHIP AND FAMILY PRESSURE

The influence and expectations that people face from the society around them are referred to as societal pressure

Source

In most African countries the most pressure ladies face in society is relationship and Family Pressure: People are under a lot of social pressure to find a spouse, get married, and have a family. Family members, friends, and cultural norms can all put pressure on someone, and if one does not live up to these standards, one may feel inadequate or behind in life.

This is getting out of hand because parents are not helping matters and this is where comparison sets in, parent will remember your age and also let you know that those children you are older than are in their husband's house giving birth, and this always happens to me times without number that is one of the reasons I quit going home for visitation.

My main sources of stress are pressure from my family and relations. This is taking a toll on me because most times they made me remember my past and feel as if marriage is the only ticket to heaven, my siblings and other extended family members have turned themselves into a pin in my neck by asking me different questions about when I am bringing the right man, most of them doesn't know anything about the way I am fairing the only thing they want to know is the wedding date.

HOW DO I DEAL WITH THIS PRESSURE FROM MY FAMILY

Although managing pressure from family and relationships might be difficult, but there are techniques I employ to get through these circumstances.

Taking care of myself is my priority: I take care of my physical, emotional, and mental well-being, and I prioritize my mental health above everything else. Taking part in relaxing, stress-relieving, and work-focused activities is really helpful. Also hanging around my friends is extremely helpful. Sometimes we talked over the issue and laughed over it, this relieved my stress and made me feel relaxed about what I was going through with my family members

Another thing I do is communicate and set boundaries, I set limits for my family members and express my opinions and thoughts in an understandable and straightforward way. I let them know what I want and how their pressure is making me feel. I don't want any pressure to push me to where I do not like, I see marriage as a life contract and if you miss s step then you miss it all, this pressure is getting frustrating day by day but I need to keep cool to maintain my mental health.

My main priority is making sure I'm happy and healthy. Though It is important to maintain a balance between staying true to myself and appreciating and respecting the ideas of my family, I am not being disrespectful but I think they should respect my decision on this matter, I see marriage as a journey that you can not back out especially when you are in my country, parents forced their children to stay in abusive marriage just to avoid what people will say.

If you are in this kind of situation, always find a way around it and never allow any pressure to put you in depression or force you to enter any relationship based on victimization.

This is my entry for this week's episode of hivelearners community prompt of #hl-w98e2 which is tagged "SOCIETAL PRESSURE"

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