Conquering Fear And Developing Confidence (#300)

What is something you believed as a child that you later found out was not true?

Hello #ladiesofhives, Happy new month. I welcome you to my blog.
A popular saying by William Shakespeare: "Cowards die many times before their death".

As a child, I always believed that my elders could not be questioned. That was what life seemed to be at that time. There are certain things I was made to believe, and some of them are:

First, I was meant to believe that females don’t watch masquerades, and I don’t need to question the authority of an elder. Then, whenever a masquerade is passing around my environment, my mum and aunties will ask me to run and hide myself because I am not permitted to see them. When I tried to stay and argue, they would remind me that I couldn’t question the advice but could discuss it later.

As I grew and time went on, we went to a cultural event with my dad; unfortunately, my mum and those aunties did not go with us. At the venue, we saw many masquerades, and my reaction was out of this world seeing them. I ran away from my dad back to the car. He followed suit while calling me, but I refused, clinging to the car’s door handle because I was afraid of the masquerades in their numbers.

All efforts to make me change my mind immediately yielded no positive results. While on our way home, my dad explained to me that the masquerades are just humans in different clothes. He also told me other stories about masquerades and gave me reasons not to be afraid of them. Again, when we got home, my siblings cried their eyes out while explaining to my mum how that act spoiled our outing.

Furthermore, my dad ensured we went to another event where we also witnessed a massive turnout of masquerades. At some point, they even came to our stand and danced while my dad and his friends sprayed them money.

Reminiscing about those moments, I found strength in the person I have become today, knowing that fear has no place in me. My confidence has grown beyond nursing fears about anything and facing challenges squarely and asking the relevant questions when I am supposed to. Learning, improving, and becoming a better version of myself, not an oh yes member.

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