The Lies Impacted our lives.

We had a fun conversation sometime two weeks ago between my neighbors and me, where we started unraveling every past story of how we were brought up and trained by our parents. We had so much fun as we laughed, giggled, and reminisced to realize how we have been fooled and deceived by our parents with their words and how as kids we took it to heart as we believed those sayings which I termed "lies". So far, everyone had a great childhood memory; the game we played, moonlight stories, friends we fought and played with, etc. With all of these, our parents were much careful to make sure we were trained in the best way.

If you would agree with me, the training we had in the past cannot be compared to this generation because I would say that this present generation didn't get to enjoy the life and tight upbringing we got at that time. Times when our parents would encourage us to read our books and assure us that those who read their books and pass are the ones whose shoes sound loud. In Yoruba, we sing a song like this:

Bata re a dun kokoka
Bo ba kawe re
Bata re a dun serere ni le
Bi o ba kawe re.

The first two lyrics say that your shoe will shine and sound loudly on the ground while people will respect you when you study and excel well, while the last two lyrics say the opposite that if one did not study well, his or her shoe would be flat on the ground with no one recognizing that such a person is coming. In their way, they wanted us to read and face our books so that when we excel, we will work in big companies, become owners of big organizations, and the like, while those who do not study will be poor and never amount to anything.

Looking at the present world now, isn't that a lie? We thought it was true as we were just young and we believed all they say. Even the illiterates are putting on good shoes and clothes due to their lifestyles to oppress others today. Many people now go into various businesses, and illegal jobs just to be great even if they have to exchange their bodies for them. Things have changed from how it was in the past but those words had a great impact on many lives which made us focus on our academics.

This is just to cite an example as I have one lie that wasn't true which my parents made us believe, but it helped us become who we are today. It was part of what contributed to my introverted lifestyle even though my younger sister had to be taken away from us to live with one of our aunts where she was influenced positively into becoming a great extrovert. The statement stuck into our brains and had to behave responsibly and be valuable to any guy who would want to marry us in the future.

My mom would warn us that when a boy touches us, we would get pregnant.

Who would hear such then and not take caution? Lol Because of that statement, I never allowed any guy to touch me because of the fear of getting pregnant, stopping my schooling and my shoes will not sound well. I took this so dear to my heart that I run to my mom whenever a guy who comes to buy something from us touches me.

The fear of pregnancy got into me to the extent that I dread sitting beside a guy in school because I thought pregnancy is something that flies over one when touched by a boy or guy. When I started growing up and was taught sex education in my Junior Secondary School, I got to understand clearly how a girl can be pregnant, and knowing how we have been deceived by my parents made it funny. I realized they were trying to protect us so we don't become wayward children and end up our lives on the streets with other children who have become disobedient and wayward from home. Perhaps my parents could have explained what premarital sex is and what it can lead to, but they were ignorant of the fact that topics like sex education should be taught to us at a young age, but they felt we were too young to know those things as we might be polluted.

Talking about this moment with my neighbors, I discovered they also got the same training as mine and this was why I concluded that this present generation isn't as how it was during our time. Today, you see youngsters having Android phones, understanding the rudiments of the internet and how to scam people. We have children in school who are already bullying, exercising control, and being domineering over their mates and younger ones and there is not enough parental upbringing for most of them.

This training did affect me to be shy. It took me years to start looking into my dad's eyes when he is talking to me because of my shyness as my head will be bowed to the ground. I don't look at a guy's face for a long time when communicating before. This was due to my upbringing but I am already trying my best to come out of the shyness and face people boldly.

Thanks for your time on my blog.