‘5 Answers’ is a simple, no-frills written series where we ask five people one same question and share them with you, the readers. A quick read aimed to spark conversations and share perspectives.
I asked a tertiary student, young working adult, middle-aged working adult, housewife and retiree this question, “What is the lie you tell yourself most often?”
“I’ll stop dating f**kboys. It’s really every time also like that, I also don’t know why sia. Maybe I’m a f**kboy magnet, I don’t know. My friends ask me if really got nice guy come I will want meh? I actually think yes but so far don’t have any how I know, you know what I mean? After my first relationship, I was quite broken. I think I kinda subconsciously tried to block out the pain and didn’t realize what was happening. I’m trying to stop dating entirely at the moment, but it’s hard ‘cause I’m so used to dating, I still don’t know if I can. I might fall hard again the moment the next f**kboy appears.” – Denise
“I’ve lost count of how many times I said I’ll sleep early tonight and wind up sleeping at 3-4am. I’ve only recently realized it’s kind of a situation called ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’. It’s pretty much me not going to bed even when I’m feeling tired because I just want to do the things I don’t have time to do in the day. Because of work, I can’t lounge around at home watching my favourite shows, drawing manga characters and playing games. So after a long day at work, I feel like it’s time for me to do all that and it’s just such a waste to sleep. On the other hand, I know how important sleep is for my body to rest and recharge so I do try to sleep earlier, at least that’s what I tell myself.” – Alex
“I’m not sure if this counts as a lie I tell myself, I genuinely try but it’s difficult. I try to save money because I know it’s important for my family and also my kids’ futures. I’m a father of three and my kids are all quite close in age. My wife and I both work, she works part time so her schedule is more flexible for the kids. I always feel guilty for not spending enough time with our kids so when they ask me to buy things, I’m not good at saying no. I don’t say yes to everything but I’m trying to be more firm too. Otherwise if you say yes to one, you need to say yes to the other two. It’s not just one expense, must multiply by three. It’s not too bad now when they are young, it’s when they are older and school fees are more expensive, traveling will be too, that’s what I’m trying to save more for.” – Greg
“Ever since I became a housewife, my everyday looks very similar. Buy groceries, run errands, cook, do chores etc. Time really flies, by the time I’m done with everything, it’s night time. I’ve been telling myself for years that once my kids are older, I’ll stop doing so much. Now they’re 16 and 20, I feel like I can take a break but at the same time, I don’t really know what to do if I take a break. I start to fear taking a break because I feel things won’t get done and I don’t want my kids to stress about anything else – they already have a lot to stress about. So I just keep going, but I like it too. It keeps me busy.” – Hui Ying (response was entirely in Mandarin and translated for purposes of this article)
“I always tell myself that I will wear shoes when I go out, as usual now I’m still wearing slippers. It’s just more convenient. The doctor said that past a certain age, it’s very common to have knee pain. One way of reducing the impact is wearing shoes with good support, but for me, I’ve always been like that. Ask me to change suddenly, it’s a bit hard to make it a new habit.” – Susan
What about you? What is the lie you tell yourself most often?
