THE SOUND OF SILENCE

I was that child that was less scared to speak up growing up. My dad will always say I was fearless. Most times, the things I said were the truth and people disliked me for that. They sorted for a way to make me feel guilty so I could stop speaking up and hiding from the truth myself. Since I was just a child back then, it was hard for them to put anything on me but as I grew older, they started calling me disrespectful and I know it is wrong being disrespectful so I had to stop confronting people with the truth. I learnt to watch from a distance. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/hopestylist/EpQuNxKNMNmTT7BUFdjx39n8Xd7SX3KPiNg12XafTBdKCn4of7i2apzAz8y1dCJE45T.jpeg I felt chained. And after some time, I got comfortable in those chains. Yes, I still try to tell the truth some times but it is only when my opinion is needed. I became scared to speak up and that was how inferiority complex crept in. When I see my mates talk, I always feel uninvited to speak because once I start speaking I will most times tint to the part of saying the truth that most people do not want to hear. And I don’t want to be disliked by people. It was a good inferiority complex but back then, I thought I was chained. I thought I was in bondage not being able to speak freely but that was also a training I needed. As a minimalist, I have learnt the power of listening and not just hearing. Back then I felt I was always right. I will never agree with what others say and that made me wrong. It took me a long time to realize that all I needed was to listen. When I started listening, I realized that another way to say the truth without speaking was living the truth so I invested more time into that rather than speaking. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/hopestylist/EpA27B3PEgqkG2RTPg63naNXnpTtrdEPryRooDwwsyExHpstEqT79ECawAdSz8CxyqH.jpeg Speaking up is good. It helps people understand us better but then, there is also power in listening. When we listen more, we don’t even have to speak to pass a message. These days, I have seen freedom in listening and learning not to speak. Our words are precious and we should not be so quick to want to sell it off. The way we listen shows how much we value our words and that is the same way people will also value the things we say. Yes, while I was growing up people didn’t like me for saying the things I said. Back then, I thought they made me feel inferior but that was only another opportunity for me to learn humility. I felt chained but it was only for a while because I later realized that it was another path to freedom. Thank you for reading through. ❤️ *_{Images used are mine}*