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Firstly, I must say that all praises belong to the creator of the universe through who all understanding comes... God is Love............
I was very outspoken when I was going up. My outspokenness got me into a lot of trouble at home and at school. At home, when my mother would say something that I found offensive , I did not hesitate to answer her back. This made her very angry, so angry that it was guaranteed that I would be getting a beaten at some point. After all, who was I to be challenging her authority? She, mother and father to me, where do I get off talking back to her? When I got to school, it was pretty much more of the same thing. I was never afraid to challenge teachers and so was not their favourite student.
The thing about being scolded then is that for the adults, it never mattered if what I was saying was right or wrong, it was just purely about the audacity I had to respond. I could never understand how they would want to say things to me because that was how they were feeling but when I did it, I was made to feel like I was wrong in all instances.
For me, this was the main reason why I found it so difficult to reason for so much of my life. I got so use to being beaten for what I was thinking that it made me afraid to think.
I write this now because if only I knew then what I knew now, I would tell my mother that her actions would affect me later in life. I would tell my teachers to be carful of the lesson they taught because I may learn that lesson too well. I would tell them that I am going to need my voice when I grow up. As a direct result of the things I had to endure growing up, I developed a fear of authority and so no matter how right I was, I would not stand up for my self.
Now I am a father. I have a wonderful son who I find so much delight in. I see in him already so much of that younger me. I don't want to repeat the cycle of silencing. I want him to be so bold that he seems like the only letter on the paper. I want him to be so loud like the colour Purple. I don't ever want him to be afraid to speak what he is thinking even if It leaves me wounded. I know I have to help him to do it in such a way that he won't be ridiculed for his opinion but most of all, I want to help him to understand that if he is ridiculed or prosecuted and he knows that he is not wrong, then know that I will stand with him.
We as adults have to understand the importance of the lessons that the impart to our kids. Let us strive to empower them and not to silence them.
Peace Love and Joy....