To all breadwinners......... 😓😓😓😓😓

            This is going out to all the individuals providing for their families.

The breadwinner; “A person who earns money to support the family, typically the sole one” (Google’s definition)

These are responsible men working tirelessly to provide for their families. So also the strong women, widowed, single or divorced, with dependants hanging tightly to them for total survival. Some older siblings too, fending for their younger ones and aged parents alike.

This is a great task and I simply say ‘Kudos’.

           

There are times you have to go the extra mile to make provisions, even derive yourself of life’s pleasure to make your dependants happy. Every cash you get requires extra sweat. You many times defy ailing health of yours just so your dependants would not suffer, not when the mouths you have to feed awaits every single penny that you make. Salaries are all spent in ‘borrow’ even before the actual alert. It is that bad.

 Many bread winners have resorted to crime when meeting up with the demands of their dependants is no longer within reach. It is also generally difficult to break even, when there is too much loop-hole of expenses that your finances have to fix.

Meanwhile, here’s what I have to say to you dear Bread winner;

 Slow down tad!  You have a life too remember?

 It is okay to be responsible; godly it is even. But when it becomes unbearable and life threatening, you really need a break. You also need to constantly evaluate the people you are dying for, how do they perceive you?

Are you just that regular ATM they press to spew notes in succession? Or that idiotic brother, who suffers from acute inferiority complex, hence coughs out every penny so as to gain the respect of his younger ones? Is your wife so complacent that she feels your pay can comfortably care for the bills of the family so squanders what is meant to be saved? Alien to some wives is a long list of debts owed by their husbands, many of which remain unpaid.

This could be painful.

But here are two things to note;

1.    It is best to involve your dependants in your hustles, directly or indirectly. Directly is if you have to make them help out with what you do, instead of having to pay others to do same for a wage. Indirectly is when they are in the know of the nitty gritty of what it takes to make provisions for them. Hand them your tedious job description, they should know too. You do not have to shoulder the financial responsibilities all alone, while also concealing all of the emotions too. You’ll only break down real quick and it would not stop the earth from rotating round the sun.

Do not be an ‘autocratic’ bread winner, be ‘democratic’ instead. Being the former is the reason why proceeds from your hustle are being squandered by the dependants, instead of being properly invested.

Remember the viral story of a Nigerian man who took his mum to Canada for the holidays. He confessed it was a dream come through for him to appreciate his mother, in compensation for all what she went through as a widow to train him in school. His orientation changed about how hard it was for his mother to get funded for his schooling, the day he caught her unawares, washing dishes for a living at a Restaurant.

2.           As you work your ass off dear bread winners, remember you also have a life too, so live it. Truth is, your dependants won’t die after you demise. Even if it happens prematurely, chances are they’ll still survive without you being in the picture. That is even an opportunity for them to buckle up and become responsible too. Others could even move on to the next breadwinner that you never even knew existed. So when your health seems ailing, take a break and relax, they won’t die.

                                    

However, only Jesus has the ability to make everybody happy, you're not him and going by the popular saying that Jollof rice makes everybody happy, that’s a fat lie. Ever tasted a salty/peppery/overly burnt one before? It always leave a sour taste in the bud.

 Think about it!.