“It’s the era of soft life. Nobody wants it hard’’. This began a Twitter rant by T.R.Okuna going by a Twitter handle @XivTroy. I have no idea who this person is but I was fascinated by the facts he/she was laying out all naked for all to see. The Twitter user goes on and on…
‘‘Nobody wants to study late into the night, they say education is not everything. They don’t want to save money; nobody gets out of this world alive they say. Nobody wants to check on friends because if they wanted to, they would have. Nobody wants to work at a damn thing anymore”
The rant doesn’t stop there…
“But you all know what you want. Very loudly; ‘I want a man that spoils me! I want a woman who submits!’. I want a fit body.”
“What are you willing to give to get all that you want? Nothing! You are just manifesting, hoping someone will rescue you. You are a professional manifester!
After the fireworks finally comes the bold message;
“Stability takes effort, relationships demand mutuality, and progress is won on your feet. Everything good is work. Soft life is hard work-worn inside out. You don’t manifest your way into a ‘soft life’- you bleed into a soft life. Unless you were born into a soft life “.
Thanks to this Twitter user, I was able to take a closer look at the society as it is at the moment and the truth is-people are obsessed with not just success but being seen as successful in the eyes of the public.
We are in a century where everyone knows what they want but are not willing to toil to achieve it the right way. From school pupils and campus students to the unemployed graduates, everyone is looking for a shortcut to prosperity.
With the increased use of social media, people overshare details about their lives to the world. The social media is unfortunately biased and can be misleading. Most people only show their highs, successes and wealth. A scroll through an Instagram page for instance showcases people who have it all, from fancy clothes to luxurious cars, houses, desirable couple goals and happy families.
The journey travelled to get there is often omitted. All the setbacks, tears, failures, losses and heartbreaks are rarely shown, giving many aspiring youths the wrong idea about success.
This has therefore contributed to many people desiring to live lavishly, and have it all, in an instant without putting in the slightest effort.
Such a trend is worrisome as it leads to a society that can do anything to achieve overnight success. Why wait for a lifetime when you can get it in an instant? All you gotta do is bend a few rules and give favors. It’s not so bad, right? Afterall, everybody else is doing it and getting away with it! Those who mind are just jealous!
That’s the society we are in now. The journey is too long. The process is too tedious. No more effort, no more hard work, no more endurance and therefore no more integrity.
Education
Pupils are cheating in exams to get higher grades and some teachers and parents either help them cheat or look the other way. Sex for grades in campuses isn’t news. Students no longer burn the midnight lamp to complete projects. Some would say; Why work hard at school with the full knowledge of the high rate of unemployment?
The curiosity to find solutions to the world’s problems is slowly dying. Students just dream of material wealth and let everyone else be damned. No more dreams to change the world
Relationships
Instead of the youth slowly building friendships and relationships, they jump to the next available loaded man or woman the age of their parents. No one is ready to wait for their partner to find his/her footing.
For men, your visions and plans mean nothing to most ladies if you don’t have the cash. Too many fish available in the lake they say! The patience and understanding that is needed to build a fulfilling marriage is slowly evaporating. Everyone wants a Subaru or an Audi guy. They want something to post on social media and make their friends jealous
Men and women nowadays go into relationships with super human expectations but have nothing themselves to bring to the table. Worse still, they are not ready to put in effort for the relationship to work.
They expect their relationships to save them from their inadequacies and validate them, while in reality, they ignore working on themselves on qualities such as self-esteem, self-love and social maturity.
Divorce and breakups are celebrated. Statements like “marriage is hard“, “don’t force relationships ” and “true love does not exist” are so prominent these days.
We have reached a point where ’Afadhali kulia kwa Rangerover kuliko kucheka kwa baiskeli’ .Bloated egos, lack of commitment and poor communication is killing it all.
Career and business
The work place hasn’t been left out either, by this ‘soft life’ crave. We are in such a hurry to get that promotion that we are willing to do anything. People set up their workmates to get them fired, sleep with their bosses for a raise and much worse. You want to “chill with the big boys” so soon that you forget that the ladder has steps for a reason. Not all employees can be managers at the same time.
Some university graduates refuse to seek alternative forms of employment when unemployment becomes an issue. Starting small, or doing casual work as you await to get your dream job is something incomprehensible among this generation.
Entrepreneurship requires patience, hard-work and determination. You can’t expect to start making huge profits in few months. Most businesses take years to stabilize. Take examples of Safaricom PLC which was started in an apartment, Jumia Kenya had a bumpy beginning when it was launched in Kenya just to mention a few. Yes, businesses do fail more often than not, but so what?
Don’t let those posting luxurious cars and mansions make you feel inadequate. Those people took time to build from scratch, were born in rich families or are criminals/conmen. Be proud of your hustle.
Let's live our lives
Call me old-fashioned but I still believe in hard-work, patience, dreams, taking chances, and above all integrity. We are obsessed with looking successful on social media so much that we have forgotten how to live in real life. The clout people are chasing only leads to depression, self-pity, and suffering. Use social media for entertainment, connecting and making money then come out and live for real