Be yourself, don’t live in fear of what others say about you
Get up today and create your legacy because tomorrow is almost dawning.
What you need to know:
- Disappointed and exhausted, I thought to myself, who is this ‘mtu’?
- Is he or she a detective that we must be worried about all the time?
The other day, we were preparing to meet some friends of ours and it was evident that we would have a lot of fun. If only we had known...
During preparations to leave the house, I had a difficult task of deciding what to wear and had to ask my sister’s opinion on my choice of outfit.
From what I had selected, she strongly disapproved: “No! Not that one. Mtu anaweza ona hizo colours afikirie sisi ni washamba (those colours may make someone think you are from the village)."
It wasn't the first time I was hearing about ‘mtu’ (someone). After several disapprovals, in which my sister kept citing ‘mtu’, I had only one outfit to go in my closet.
Holding the dress in one hand and crossing my fingers on the other, I hoped against hope that my sister would say yes.
She was about to approve it when my mother said abruptly: "hapana hizo viatu sio mzuri! Mtu anaweza fikiria ni za kuombwa (no, those shoes are not okay. Someone may think they were borrowed)"
"Seriously, more 'mtus' again?" I thought to myself as I returned to my room. It was already dusk and the meeting was called off.
Disappointed and exhausted, I thought to myself, who is this ‘mtu’? Is he or she a detective that we must be worried about all the time? How come this invisible person dictates almost every aspect of our lives?
And how come we must always worry about him or her?
You see! You don't have the answers to these questions simply because there is no ‘mtu’. That person only exists in our imaginations and is killing our progress in life. He or she is making us afraid of attempting new things and pursuing our dreams.
Its about time we stopped this ‘mtu’ mentality and focus on meeting our aspirations and dreams.
Get up today and create your legacy because tomorrow is almost dawning. Inspire, innovate and create. You are the captain of your ship.
Mallia,14, and Maryanne, 14, are allumnae of The Hill School Eldoret.
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