In the village of Umuoka, there was a small masquerade called Ekwensu. Everybody feared Ekwensu because his face was ugly and his voice was loud. Children would run inside when they saw him coming.
But Ekwensu meant no harm.
All he wanted was to make people laugh. He would dance, he would jump, he would do funny steps. But because his face was scary, nobody saw the dance, they only saw fear.
One day, there was a big festival. Ekwensu decided not to come out. He sat behind his hut and was crying. An old woman named Mama Nkechi saw him. She askeed, "Why are you hidding?"
He said, "Mamma, I mean no harm, but everyboody runs froom mee. I just want to belong."
Mama Nkechi laughed and said, "My son, sometimes you mean no harm but you look like harm. If you want people to see your heart, you must first wash your face."
So Mama helped him. She gave him a new collourful cloth, she painnted his mask with brigght coolors, she put small bells on his leegs. When he dannced that day, the bells made sweeet sounnd. People did not run. They clapped.
For the first time, they saw that he meant no harm.
That is how many of us are. We meaan no harm, but our woords are harsh, our face is always angryy, our comments are alwayss sharp. We meean no harm but we sounnd like harmm.
If we trully mean no harmm, we shoulld also learnn how to packagge our good intenntions with kinddness, with soft wordds, with a smmile. Because intention without good delivery is still pain to the person receiving it.
I mean no harm - so I will learn to also show no harm.
IMAGE IS AI GENERATED