Demands

It's not to the point of out-of-breath yet, but it's still a little suffocating. Being 'crushed'. Like an invisible stone placed on top of you. The demands of people. It's tiring, it's frustrating and it's confusing. You get all messed up till you have no idea what it is you wanted to do anymore. Man, I'm only one person. How much do you expect?

First and foremost, there is work. It takes up 98% of your weekdays and occasionally, your weekends as well. And yet your superiors still expect more. They are programmed to have this thinking that why can't you be more hardworking than you already are and put in more effort to meet that ridiculous deadline set by some idiot? Even if you do spend 24/7 working in office, they somehow fail to see and expect the very same thing over and over again.

Then there's family. Because you are indebted to them since birth, thus, you do not have the heart to ignore your responsibilities to them. No matter what, you still got to make out some time to do house chores, do groccery shoppings, show up at some family get together, show some concerns, help out here and there etc etc. And if you fail to do even one of the above, there goes the silent guilt pressure or better, the lifetime non-stop nagging. "From what I remembered, you are part of the family too. How can you be so ignorant and self-centered?"

Not over yet. Have I brought up friends? They call when they are feeling blue, you are obligated to be there. They call when they are bored, you are obligated to be there. They are having this big party, you are definitely obligated to be there. If you don't, you'd risk disappointing them and losing their trust. Or you'd hear, "So you are so busy now that you don't have time for us anymore? What happened to our usual Saturday night drinks?" You have to cope with another round of guilty-ness and then comes the silent treatment again where you don't hear from them as often anymore.

What about yourself? Don't you need to satisfy your own demands? To just cuddle on the couch, with a steaming hot chocolate, some jazz and a good book? Or to catch up with that drama series you've left out months ago? Or to go for that relaxing swim? Or to continue those dance lessons that you've put on hold? Or just to laze on bed till the afternoon sun shines through? Or to put on your favourite CD and get back to stitching? Or to surf through web pages and articles that interests you? I'm sure everyone has alot of personal things in mind that they want to do.

Imagine you have only this one day. And all of the above parties wants a piece of you. Tell me. Whom do you choose to satisfy? Your boss? Your family? Your friends? Yourself?

Gimme a break!