If anyone reading this article thinks that I’m complaining about my life and/or loathing it in any way,
shape or form, then think again, because you sometimes need to take the cards
that life throws at you no matter the capacity in which they come in: be it
permanent or temporary as well as being hard or easy; because it’s what you do
with those cards that helps determine whether you sink or swim through them.
Case in point, as I look
through my circle of friends, I see that the majority of my friends who are
around my age are now parents and I know that this could be a really lonely and
sometimes confronting time for people who are childless, because they might feel
like they’re the odd ones out and equally feel like they no longer have
anything in common with their once-single friends, so here’s my advice to those
struggling with this:
Know that it’s completely
natural to sometimes feel this way and you’re not alone, don’t be completely
disheartened by that, try not to listen to people who judge you negatively on
it and instead try to take as much time as you need to understand what your
friend’s new life step entails and try to think of ways in which you could
support them, in the life stage that you’re at.
Let me assure you by
confirming that I have sometimes felt that at different times in my adult life,
but I haven’t let that in itself stop me from having a place in my friends’
lives because of the respect we have for each other’s life journeys.
I also feel really blessed
to be a “surrogate aunty” to all my friends’ kids and I’m also looking forward
to having my story instil bravery, courage, resilience as well as a fighting
spirit in them.
