African career women and stress management

Before I was born, the African women were just married to take care of the house, make babies, do petty local trading, and local Agriculture, but the case is different today, where you see majority of women working 9/5 corporate jobs to keep the family going smoothly. It is very rare to see any modern African woman sitting at home doing nothing. It is not even good because if a woman just relies on the husband to keep providing for the family, if something happens to the husband, what next? How does she cope with the family? My talk today will look at the stress the present African women undergo while they go about their various businesses. Someone reading this might be askin g me if stress is only applicableto working women only….it is not but am focusing on the career women. Ofcourse our dear men can learn a lot from this column since most of our male activities involves dealing with the females.
There is no one in Africa that is not experiencing one kind of stress or the other but our stress levels and conditions differ pretty much; what creates stress for a house wife might not be an issue with a career woman and so on.
The typical career woman is one hell of a powerful specie of a woman because she takes care of lots of things happening around her. First and foremost, her job must start and end at her home with her family( so those of you who put their work first, take note of this). As a married woman who works from 9am to 6pm weekly, for you to avoid so much stress pulling you down in both sections of your life, you mustfirst of all tackle all the issues at home and make sure things are in order and running smoothly while you are away from work or else by thetime you finish with the issues at work and come back home, it is like facing a new version of what you had at work place. Having a smooth running home will be a stepping stone to keep your stress level down because, you will be a total wreck if you cannot manage issues both at home and at work. It means you have failed both sides and you cannot have any peace of mind.
There are women who always use their jobs to give excuses not to do their wife’s duties at home. Now listen ladies, I applaud career women because it is not easy for us these days and any woman who works hard is only trying to keep her familyaway from suffering and that is fantastic. The singles are also trying to be independent and not being taken for a crude financial ride by anyone. While you are providing for your family, do notmake the mistake most career women do by constantly neglecting your home in the areas of cooking, spending time with kids and hubby. Also stop reminding your husband that you are the boss if you happen to make more money than him or else he will react to ways that could create stress for you. Trust our African men and their pride, as he is enjoying your money, he will stillmake you to understand he is boss at home even when jobless. If only such men could be subtle while doing this so, if you have such a man whose pride over takes all his senses, be very careful in bragging about you being the financial provider of the family. This particular issue where a husband is jobless and the wife works is very sensitive so if you as a woman, wants to avoid stress, find a tactful way to deal with your husband so as not to squash his pride/ego. If you are a man reading this, I am also making you to understand that the fact that you are the husband should not make you not to respect and encourage your wife. Most of you will not even appreciate such huge responsibility so if you are unfortunate to have a wife whothrows caution to the winds and gets tired of your complex/ungrateful manners, you will create a serious stress not just for her but for yourself and family members as well. The African men should try as much as they can to apprciate what their women do in the areas of contributing financially, doing home chores and even making babies. Women play more roles in keeping the home more than men. They bring in money, cook, clean the house, make babies, take care of children and also cater for the needs of the husband. For the men, all they do is make money. Sure, bring in the cash and keep the family. These days women makemoney and also do other things at home to keep the home running smoothly.
For you the career woman out there, once you have manged your home front very well, you will be good at the work place. At least after all the wahala at the office, when you get home, you relax and refresh. By keeping your home well, your family members will also help out to reduce your workload at home. I have seen African men who cook(very few)for their wives and they do it with all pleasure. Oh…how I appreciate such men..!! You rock guys!! Such nice men only have problems when a primitive/ancient Marina friend or relative sees them cooking and start the useless teasing of them being a –‘’woman wrapper’’. If you are a man who tries to help your working wife at home and someone tease you for doing so, avoid such a person. Helping your wife at home is not a sign of weakness butgreatness and showing that you are noble. Do not join the ‘’old school men’’ whofeel the woman’s place must be in the kitchen for ever or else, you will keep having issues with your career wife. Your working wife will always do more and respect you highly if you join her keep the home in your own time and do it happily. If you are a woman and you also take your husband for granted because he is helping out at home by cooking for you, you should get your head examined.
So for you to manage or avoid stress as a career woman, keep your home very well first and the joy that you get from your family will always empower you to excel at work and not being stressed out by work load. Remember to be nice to your workers and never look down on the junior ones. Be nice to all while keeping your headup at your work place. Stress limits your success and happiness.
Enjoy your holidays and I am wishing you a tress free 2015.

Jaclyn Iwu is a Life, Career, Business Coach
A stress management expert & conference speaker
media relations personnel
BLOG: http://bluntjacqui.blogspot.com
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TWITTER: @JacquiWORLD