WHAT WILL PEOPLE THINK/SAY

(How much of our lives have we put at stake for what others may think of or say
about us?)
They always say that life is too short for you to be worried about what other people will say.
However, in many of our undertakings today, we struggle so much to impress, we do things
because we want people to think good of them, talk good of them and keep us on the
“appreciative” side of their stories. Whether such things override our comfort, joy and happiness,
we seem not to care. Whether such things degrade us instead of upgrading us, we seem not to
care. Whether such things worsen us instead of improving us, we do not at all care, as long
people think and talk noble of them. Ask yourself these questions. How many opportunities that
could’ve made you a better person, have you let pass by because you were too scared of what
people would think of or say about you? How many opportunities that could’ve improved the
lives of others have you let pass by, because you were too scared of what people would think of
or say about you? Quite a number right? Well, you may do a lot of things, right or wrong, but
you should never let your life be dictated by other people’s expectations. Why should you live
life according to other people’s standards? Why should other people’s opinions stand between
you and your success? A few years ago, a friend of mine told me he wanted to be one of
Uganda’s richest. I told him the best time to start was now (then) and he told me he didn’t have
enough capital. I asked him how much he had and he told me he had less than UGX 100,000
which was part of his savings during school. I asked him to buy loafs of bread, which wasn’t
there at the school canteen and sell them to students in the dormitories at a profit because no
doubt the students would love to have bread to accompany their breakfast. He refused, you know
what he told me? ... “my friends can’t see me selling bread. It won’t look good.” What an
opportunity he missed because of the fear of what his friends would think of him. You know
what? He has since then dropped out of school because of his parent’s failure to raise school
fees. Let’s imagine he had seized that opportunity with both hands, the opposite of such an
ending would probably be true and he would be at a high speed gearing towards his dreams.
In life, opportunities do come and they’ll never stop coming. Opportunities to change your life,
opportunities to change other people’s lives and opportunities to make this world a better place.
What others will say about us should only keep us in line and not stand as a barrier between us
and success because there is nothing worse than missing an opportunity that could’ve changed
your life for the good. The good news is however, that it is never too late to change. People will
never stop talking, because i mean, what is the mouth for? Set your goals and strive towards
achieving them, work hard enough to silence them, to prove them wrong and most importantly
fight the fear, the fear of what others will think of or say about you because if you do not destroy
such fear, sooner than later it will destroy you.

By: KOMAGUM BRIAN.