The mindset that ones past identity is permanent.

The social benefit that says "once a prostitute, is always a prostitute" this well known worldview has affected the society and public in a negative way by treating ones past behaviour as a permanent stigma. They are being called by the same past name or lifestyle they were living before and always been reminded that's what they were in the past. And this act might make it difficult or prevent the individual from quitting, repenting and having a new choice of living and it will be very difficult for people to treat them differently from what they knew they were.

There's this friend of mine who was a prostitute and later she had a divine encountered with God through prophetic deliverance and after that day she repented and start living a new life entirely. There's this particular day we went for social party together, along the line one of the men she slept with for money, saw her and was like I knew you, were you not the same lady I had a one night stand, it was so loud that people around had it. My friend was ashamed of herself and had wished the ground should open up and swallow her. I defended her and told the guy that my friend is now a changed person and had left that past life. Do you know what the guy said, he said once an ashawo, always an ashawo. Really! I felt pity for my friend and immediately we left the party. All throughout that week she felt bad and isolated, trying to reflect on why her past is being used to hurt her in her present.

This mindset has terribly had a bad effect to the society. First it discourages the person living this kind of lifestyle from changing and the society use it against them because they have already been known them for that, its like a permanent label. So chances of quitting is rare. The way the society judge these people replace their new choice of living with a permanent history, this will be harder and might even lead to isolation and this also worsen the product.

For the young ones around me, l will try to educate them not to involve themselves in bad lifestyle that will affect them in future. I will let them understand that genuinely quitting from an ugly lifestyle does not erase ones bad choice of past living tomorrow. Let them know condemning people by their past is a lazy reasoning. They shouldn't judge people by their bad choice so that they won't be judged the same way. I will also give examples of persons that changed from their bad addiction and crime, how that bold step they took has positively affected their change of new choice.

As for me, I can't be found in the mist of people or society that judge people by that negative mindset, a community that grows is open for changes. A belief that made people to live or still attached to their past does not encourage molarity rather it makes the individual more hard to live by it.