The term middle class is mostly used nowadays by many families to say to society that, though they are not rich in money, they are rich in heart. WTF? If you're wondering how that makes sense, then grab something to drink and continue reading.
If you look at the statistics, 34% of Indian families are middle class. Nearly 54% of American families are middle class, but being a family itself is a big task over there. No offense to Americans, but your land is filled with stepmoms and stepdads.
Coming back to the topic, not only in these two countries, if you take any country, there will be so-called middle-class people. But what are we actually? Well, we people do not enjoy life like the rich do, nor do we suffer like the poor. We are perfectly balanced.
Though we have a lot of problems, which are glorified on the internet, as a member of a middle-class family since my birth, I would like to share some of the things I have learned because of my family and the situations around me.
Success is mandatory:
Seeing your parents sacrificing their joy for your sake is something great, but at the same time, we all want to repay them. Only success can do it. Just one big win, one big win, can change your entire future generations. That's what your mother needs, and that's why your father works every day without looking at the clock.
Since we were not born with silver spoons, we get everything the hard way. In some instances, we don't even know that. Our parents don't want to show those struggles to us. For example, take me. I have never in my life suffered because of money, food, or shelter. I got all the basic needs and also the things I wanted if I asked my parents.
Recently, I came to know that my parents had a 1.5 crore (180,000 dollars) debt. That's a huge amount for an Indian middle-class family to repay. I started wondering how they could sleep peacefully, or if they even sleep properly. I don't know, but one thing is for sure. This will push me to the extreme to put in the efforts needed, and I will repay this as soon as possible and make them retire and do what they like.
That's the kind of motivation we all middle-class kids have: to see our parents happy and doing what they love after spending years working hard in something they didn't like much.
If family happiness had a tier, our success is the one and only thing to be in the S tier. The amount of happiness they get is unmatched by anything else. As middle-class kids, we just want to see our parents proud, boasting about us to others. But at the same time, don't get too pressured in achieving it. Some will attain it at 18, and some will attain it at 40.
That doesn't matter to our parents; the only thing that matters to them is seeing us smile.
The 3S:
- Sharing
- Sacrifice
- Small moments
The sharing trait runs in our blood for sure. We share our food, clothes, toys, laptop, games, etc. We have our brothers, sisters, cousins, and nephews. We share everything we have, and that's a given since I'm from India.
Sacrifice! A huge word to utter. We all know how our parents sacrifice things for their kids, but how many of you are aware that we also sacrifice some things for them? We sacrifice unwanted spending with friends by canceling plans, the desire to play on a PS5, and the absurd dreams of becoming an actor or a cricket player — the list goes on.
I am not blaming anyone, but when we become parents ourselves, we will understand how we get this trait of sacrificing for our own children.
Lastly, the small moments of joy. We don't need anything expensive or fancy to make us happy. Just one dinner together, chit-chatting, will give us the happiness of life. We don't have many big moments in our lives. That's why we recognize the small moments of happiness and cherish them every day.
In between all the running, fighting, and trying, we need to find small moments of happiness to make us feel alive.
The bad days:
So, let's come to reality. We do have bad days when our parents fight for something that matters the most, or sometimes, you might be the reason. But don't worry, you are not alone. It is common to have bad days. In fact, you have to navigate through bad days to get to good days. There is always a bright sky behind the clouds.
The thing is, we become more experienced and trained to handle bad days. So, at a point in time, these days will become like any other, just like a passing cloud. When we deal with our own bad days, it becomes much easier to tackle them than for others. Just remember:
You will have bad days, but they don't define you. Bad days always promise a better tomorrow!
The art of accepting "No":
I bet my life on this — we are damn good at accepting "no!" Most of the things we ask for, like maybe a movie night or a trip we want to take, will get a "no" first. When people are afraid to hear the word "no," it's a normal word we hear in our daily lives. Sometimes we protest against their words and win at times, but we fail miserably once the topic of our marks comes into the picture.
TLDR:
So, to conclude: if you are a middle-class kid reading this, don't worry. You are probably experiencing the most out of life, and everything is going well for you. Just don't complain — be grateful for whatever you have.
We are the future of our country's economy. From us, from our generation, wealth will be produced if you keep the fire burning inside you.
Being born into a middle-class family is an underrated privilege. It teaches you a lot of things that nothing else can. Peace be upon you!