Do you use a scrub sponge or a loofah when you take a bath? I do.
Loofahs (according to their manufacturers, advertisers, distributors and retailers) would make your bathing experience better than those people who don’t use them. It removes dirt and dead skin cells more efficiently compared to mere rubbing of your skin with your hands. However, scrubbing is painful. Despite the pain that the friction between the bath sponge and my skin causes, I still use a loofah because it makes me feel cleaner and my skin feels softer as I step out of the shower.
So what’s my point?
Well, while I was taking a bath the other day. It suddenly occurred to me that there are people who serve as our loofahs in life. They hurt us but because of them or because of what they do, we become cleaner, somehow better persons afterwards.
The loofah of my life is my elder sister.
I am telling you, she is downright annoying. She nags a lot. She habitually bosses people around. She thinks she knows everything. She expects everyone to follow what she says. She tells you you’re not supposed to feel a certain way when you tell her your worries. Oh, the list could go on forever!
Don’t get me wrong, I love her and don’t exactly hate her. If you have a sibling, you’ll understand how they can get into your nerves.
I am telling you, she is downright annoying. She nags a lot. She habitually bosses people around. She thinks she knows everything. She expects everyone to follow what she says. She tells you you’re not supposed to feel a certain way when you tell her your worries. Oh, the list could go on forever!
Don’t get me wrong, I love her and don’t exactly hate her. If you have a sibling, you’ll understand how they can get into your nerves.
My sister speaks her mind blatantly. No euphemisms. No regard for the other person’s feelings. No contemplation before she opens her mouth. She says what she thinks whenever she feels doing so. Period.
Someone who doesn't know her would easily hate her. Well, even for people who do know her (Ahem!), there’s still a point where the feeling of hate and hurt exist.
Whenever I share my problems to her, she tells me that I shouldn't feel that way, or that 'it is insignificant', or that other people have it much worse. Simply put, she says things that I don’t want to hear at those moments. Of course, when you’re worried about something and you tell it to another person, you expect them to listen, sympathize, and NOT lecture or criticize you. So whenever I talk to my sister, I end up feeling heavier and more miserable in the end.
Someone who doesn't know her would easily hate her. Well, even for people who do know her (Ahem!), there’s still a point where the feeling of hate and hurt exist.
Whenever I share my problems to her, she tells me that I shouldn't feel that way, or that 'it is insignificant', or that other people have it much worse. Simply put, she says things that I don’t want to hear at those moments. Of course, when you’re worried about something and you tell it to another person, you expect them to listen, sympathize, and NOT lecture or criticize you. So whenever I talk to my sister, I end up feeling heavier and more miserable in the end.
Here’s the catch though, I still share my worries to her. You know why? Because once I get over that period of hurt/hate because of what she did and said, I would realize that most (not all..hahaha) of what she said were true and for my own good. They were not what I needed that time since I was longing for consolation but they would help me overcome the problem and not lament over it.
In that way, she’s my loofah. She hurts me but also helps me clean those dead skin cells and dirt. At the end of the day, it is only through friction that washing away problems becomes possible.
How about you, who’s the loofah of your life?
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