Hello, and welcome back to my space! It is another beautiful weekend, and a great time reflecting on different life experiences that have contributed in shaping me into the person I have become today.
In this post, I want to share a few of those experiences and how they have influenced me in my relationship with people.
I grew up as the youngest in my family, and at that time we lived with my maternal relatives. And in those days of growing up, one would have thought that I would have been an over-pampered child, but far from it. As the youngest, I was always being sent to run errands for the elders, many of whom would not hesitate to scold me or even beat me at the slightest mistake. My Dad had died earlier, and my mum was not always around, as she was working 9-5.
The harsh treatment (both physical and verbal) received from the elders around me made me so unhappy, and I was always angry and defensive. I felt that some of their actions were very unfair, and all I wanted was to grow up and go live on my own.
By the time I became a young adult, I found out that I hardly ever in a good mood for anything. My reactions and responses were always in anger that even my close friends began to complain.
I remember a day when my brother (one and only) sat me down for a heart to heart talk. He first made me to understand that my anger and bitterness issues were not good for my health at all, and that I needed to watch it.
He also made to realize that my mood affects those around me and would only make other people to be angry with me. He encouraged me to make conscious efforts to control my anger, and be mindful of how I respond to people, and also told me to frown less and smile more.
Being that, apart from my mother, my brother was my closest friend at that time, I listened to him, and I began to pay attention to my words and actions. Gradually, I found myself becoming sensitive to the feelings of people around me.
Later on as a full adult, I realized that my words and actions were only reflections of the thoughts inside me, and also that my thoughts shape my reality. From then, I have become more intentional about practicing mindfulness, first to improve my personality and then to be more accomodating to others.
These days when I see my children behaving strange, I take my time to understand what could have prompted their behaviour, and then try to put myself in their shoes to be able to talk to them and guide them aright.
It has not been a smooth journey, but I know that I have become a more caring and thoughtful person than I used to be.
Thank you for reading. Image used in this post is a free-to-use image from pixabay.com.
