Role Figures

Who is your role figure? In what areas of life were you shaped by your role figure? Are you happy for having such a role figure? As an adult if you are asked to choose a role figure, would you choose the same person? Are you grateful for such a person when you reflect back on the of life you led in past and now? As for me, my answer to these questions is a resounding 'YES'. But before i go on to unveil these precious, wonderful gifts of role figures in my life, and their positive imparts in my life, let us first discuss the words ROLE FIGURE.

In simple words, a role figure is a person whose standards or principles guide or inspire others. It can also be described as a person whose example others follow. A role figure can either be positive or negative. When a role figure displays or exhibits good influence, he/she is a positive role figure, but if he/she does not, the reverse is the case. Now, it is time to unveil my precious role figures and why i am forever grateful for them. They are my parents and my paternal grandmother.First, my parents are super amazing in their parental role. They are a kind of people that don't play with good morality and hate disgrace of any form. They are positive role figures when it comes to spirituality , morality, hardworking, time management, cleanliness, discipline , resource management and so on.To help you understand more let me talk a little about my background. We are a family of 7 kids: 6girls and a boy . Among these kids no one is favored over others, no one is pampered over others, even the only son receives discipline both severe and light ones according to offense committed, no one is overlooked , everybody is cared for. My parents are religious people, they don't play with worship. When it is time for worship, everything must be abandoned, everybody will be carried along, no one will be left out to care for anything. As kids, we grow up knowing that worship and attending our religious meetings and service is something i wont give a second thought . It's a must.

Back then, we had a family business, everybody participated even the least of us. We worked so hard that at time, there was no need for hiring labour, we made a great team. When it comes to time management, my parents are time conscious, even though we had a family at home, our family business did not encroach on the time for other activities like going for worship, going to school and others. Infact, any day my parents woke up in the morning before us, we would start counting the day as a bad day for us. My father would always say 'check the time, is it proper to be spent on this? Each activity has an allotted time, and non of these activities interrupts with each other. We also had an active, working curfew time.

What about cleanliness? Whenever our fellow kids callout 'your father is on the way' instead pf rushing happily to welcome him, we would first run helter skelter to ensure that every where is neat if we have not done so before his arrival because he hate feeling sand on his legs at home. My parents are topnotch when it comes to discipline.Even though we were raised in a moral degraded environment, we were not corrupted, my parents instilled good morals in us to the point that we see other wayward counterparts as dirty. Showing respect to one another and to older folks is a habit. In my family, we don't address our immediate older sibling by his or her name. We use words that depict respect till date. These good morals protected us from joining bad associations. My parents once told us if you join bad guys and got arrested, he won't come for our rescue and even if he does, he will tell the officials to give us the punishment we deserve' we trust in their words. The way my parents presented united front in raising us gave us no chance to try a bit of ill manner, we have no rescue even outsiders and neighbors dare not come close.

What about my paternal grandmother? She's was lioness in all ramifications. Sometimes when she visited us and meet us in the face of discipline, she would plead in our behalf and caution us softly afterward . So, as we grow, i personally started reasoning that my parents are too strict and longed for freedom, i ran to stay with this grandma of mine, thinking i have gotten the safe haven . My father came severally to take me back with the reason that i will hot spoilt in her hands, my grandma would laugh and asked him who raised him to become responsible.It is understandable that strength declines with age and grandparents love pampering their grandkids but my grandma was the same lioness i used to hear about her actions when she was younger . She would run and catch me up and doubled my discipline for stressing her plus the offense i already committed. Through out the six years i lived with her, i felt at home, i never felt the absence of my biological parents, her care, her love, her self-sacrificing attitude, the skills i acquired from her, her positive energy even in the face of hardship and illness, her spiritual mindset are super super extraordinary. Something i wIill not forget in my entire life. In fact, this writeup is dedicated to my parents and my late grandma. I am forever indebted to them. This is mayinleo. Photo sources: all photos are mine