Dear 21st century child
Teopolina Natangwe Shikulo
In a time and age where it feels like society and media dictates how you should act, dress and what you should do, do you still remember who you are?
Many of us are broken and are barely holding on, we are tired and end up saying “life is hard”, but is it really hard or do we just complicate it enough to make it seem hard? Let us take a little trip down the road of truth. Have you ever tried to squeeze through s really tiny gate and even when you know you will not fit you keep squeezing anyway, hoping the gate will magically become wide enough. Then if you do actually get to squeeze your way through, take a look at yourself and see how much harm you have done. Ironically, you probably said to yourself, “no, I haven not”, but let us look at that again. We live in a world where everyone wants to fit in, everyone wants to be cool, wants to be popular, wants to wear the latest Five Roses jeans and hang out with coolest crowd. All the things I have just mentioned could be your tiny gate. You want to fit in so much that you forget who you are and break yourself down to to fit through the gate.
The word ‘friend’ can be described in many ways, but I like to define it as someone who knows me for me. A friend is someone who you do not have to pretend and wear a mask for. They love you, not for what you have or can do, but for who you really are. Dear 21st centure child, you do not have to be someone you are not to be accepted as the right people will accept you whether you wear branded jeans or Mr. Price jeans. Many of you have friends you cannot even really open up and talk to. You are struggling with depression and you are lonely, but you have friends over every day. You walk around with masks pretending everything is okay and terrified at the idea of anyone finding out the truth of you feel because you do not know how they will react. One day, the weight will be too heavy to bear and you will need help.
Look at your friends and evaluate, when you fall, will they catch you or will they be too busy? It is a provoking question, but you need to be able to answer it. Let us take off our masks and be real. Pretending is a role you will get tired of. Surround yourself with genuine people and life will not be so hard, but always remember to notice and recognize genuine, you have to be it.
*Teopolina Shikulo is a medical student at Cavendish University of Medicine in Lusaka, Zambia. She aims to inspire and motivate the youth.
In a time and age where it feels like society and media dictates how you should act, dress and what you should do, do you still remember who you are?
Many of us are broken and are barely holding on, we are tired and end up saying “life is hard”, but is it really hard or do we just complicate it enough to make it seem hard? Let us take a little trip down the road of truth. Have you ever tried to squeeze through s really tiny gate and even when you know you will not fit you keep squeezing anyway, hoping the gate will magically become wide enough. Then if you do actually get to squeeze your way through, take a look at yourself and see how much harm you have done. Ironically, you probably said to yourself, “no, I haven not”, but let us look at that again. We live in a world where everyone wants to fit in, everyone wants to be cool, wants to be popular, wants to wear the latest Five Roses jeans and hang out with coolest crowd. All the things I have just mentioned could be your tiny gate. You want to fit in so much that you forget who you are and break yourself down to to fit through the gate.
The word ‘friend’ can be described in many ways, but I like to define it as someone who knows me for me. A friend is someone who you do not have to pretend and wear a mask for. They love you, not for what you have or can do, but for who you really are. Dear 21st centure child, you do not have to be someone you are not to be accepted as the right people will accept you whether you wear branded jeans or Mr. Price jeans. Many of you have friends you cannot even really open up and talk to. You are struggling with depression and you are lonely, but you have friends over every day. You walk around with masks pretending everything is okay and terrified at the idea of anyone finding out the truth of you feel because you do not know how they will react. One day, the weight will be too heavy to bear and you will need help.
Look at your friends and evaluate, when you fall, will they catch you or will they be too busy? It is a provoking question, but you need to be able to answer it. Let us take off our masks and be real. Pretending is a role you will get tired of. Surround yourself with genuine people and life will not be so hard, but always remember to notice and recognize genuine, you have to be it.
*Teopolina Shikulo is a medical student at Cavendish University of Medicine in Lusaka, Zambia. She aims to inspire and motivate the youth.
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