Today I like to start by saying life is 30% who you are and 70% what others think you are. Seeing yourself as a good person is your opinion, others opinion about you will determine how they react to you and there's little or nothing you can do about it. Being a mischievous child, I've often gotten away with a lot of things because everyone thought I was a good and quiet boy. Oh yeah I was quiet, but good would depend on the scenario 😂. My very close friends knew me as the viper, while everyone else knew me as the church boy. Not as though I was trying to hide my identity, being the church boy was all part of my mischievousness. Today I can only look back and smile at the things I got away with, like how I beat up one of my seniors that earned me the name viper…
With all I did I was never caught red handed, for the seniors beating, he deserved it for being a bully, and also sent messages to his classmates who wanted to retaliate but thought I was in a cult. So yeah public image matters a lot. Recently I had to get some official paperworks that would clear me for service (NYSC), and I saw a lot of people bribing their way to make things easier for them. I thought about it for a moment and decided not to. Not because I wasn't having the financial capacity to do so, nor was it because I was scared of what could be the outcome but because of the reputation I have built for myself in the long run. All through my school days I have never cheated in an exam, and had only bribed a lecturer once and that was because he made it compulsory for passing his course during my early days when I wasn't familiar with how the school system worked.
Later in life I decided to have a code that I have been living by, I wouldn't want to have to cheat my way to get things done, instead I would let it go seeing nothing is compulsory except life is involved. With this code I have been able to live a life that has made me distinct around my peers. There's a way everyone sees me, not as a pastor but as someone they can trust to do what is right. I hope to continue living like that because I know a time would come, the reputation I've built for myself as a youth would be needed for my verdict. During my secondary school days, I had a reputation of breaking girls' hearts. At one point girls wouldn't say yes to me because they were scared their hearts would be broken. And even when I was ready to change it was hard for them to see me for who I was trying to become.
This is why I decided that when I turned on a new leave, there was no going back. I would do well to keep on making my reputation good. Not in pretense, but try to be someone that I can be proud of. I've made mistakes along the way, and would continue making mistakes because I'm human. But I will never let those mistakes define me, but will ensure that I strive to change the narrative and keep my reputation so everyone sees I'm just a guy trying to do the right thing and would always be that guy. Even when I make mistakes, I would continue trying to fix them so those around me would see I'm not invincible, I won't brag about things I've done and haven't done, but will try to be the man that would keep doing good.
THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE NAIJA'S PROMPT FOR THE WEEK
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