My mum never resulted to give me a tray on my head but she sure threatened me several times with it and at some moments she told me to be grateful it wasn’t up to that point. As for selling, no worry I sell things.
Coming back from school with so much task both from school and at home, selling at the small shop downstairs wasn’t an easy combo especially for a child like me that was pretty involved in a lot in school, in church and at home. Cooking two (2) square meals for at least twelve (12) people everyday, fetching from a well to fill three (3) drums, one (1) for the general house on the first floor, second (2nd) for late grandpa, third (3rd) for my uncle on the second floor, washing dishes for everyone including plates of extras when I left for school, washing clothes for at least five (5) people, doing my take home assignments, studying materials other than school work and teaching at least one (1) person a day and being sane was quite cumbersome in my Columbia environment where chaos and negativity was practically the order of each day.
When my mum had financial crises and became broke, it became worse as most family members who were to be by her especially after the many sacrifices she made for them in the past were very much unavailable, things became tougher. It was more like suffering-smiling like some Nigerians would say.
Poverty I think is seriously a mindset thing as circumstances don’t ultimately define your status. It’s not about faking and making people think what you are not but it’s about what you think of yourself and your future.
Everything might not be as you plan or planned BUT if you give up it would not help would it?
Most children and adults felt like I was from a very rich home especially because of how I carried myself with respect and for the fact we lived in our own house at that time, but it was funny that on some days we didn’t even have food on our table and we just had to manage whatever we saw available.
There were days we had to walk a very far distance to church or school, there were days she had to sacrifice food for Blessing and I and I will in turn sacrifice for Blessing to have her fill but in all this, you will never know or suspect anything like that was happening. Reasons being that our mum taught us to understand that it will get better someday and personally, I didn’t take dignity in being termed poor even if circumstances made it look so.
When you see things from a brighter perspective through the lens of the little torch even in the dark, hope springs up and helps you live positively today and tomorrow. The more positive you live, the more positivism people sense around you and the more positive people come to you.
Kick out that clumsiness of “that’s how it is, I’ll take it as I see it” and guard your mind jealously allowing only good and positive thoughts of who you are and who you see you are in the future sit in.
I rest my case.
My Thoughts
©Ala O. Wilcox.
