My greatest mistakes in life so far – according to my Dad

Once in while you get to a place where you get onto your knees and wonder what is it that I am doing and why isn’t everything working
out for time as it is for so and so? Reason being that there is probably so much going wrong at the moment that we fail to see and look at the bigger picture.
I have been there a tad many times mostly because I am not a
conformist. I like to view the world through totally different lenses. And while so far it has worked for me – I will tell you that it is no mean feat. I have wanted to quit so many times. I have had doubts, I have wanted to compromise, I have wanted to throw in the towel on me, my dreams and aspirations, – I have had those moments where all I want to do is cry myself to sleep and wake up in the morning hoping that something will  have changed. But we all know how that story usually ends – we wake up to the same idiocy as we left the night before.
Looking back though I realize that I am glad I set out on this road- the one that has no definite bearings – where you have to write your
own rules and live for what you believe will get you to where you want to be.  However this means that I have been mis-understood as well, by family and society. There is a lot of must do’s and must have’s in society that if you are like me then you probably are going to have it rough. And so today I share with you the greatest mistake that I have made – according to my father.
Communications:
I have always told stories. I have always wanted to be the go-to person in terms of news. This started in Primary school where I was the Information prefect. I read the news on assembly every Friday. In O’Level I did this pro bono without any office – when I got to A’ level – I was unopposed for Library & Information captain. However my father wanted me to be a lawyer. He got me registered for the class- all I had to do was join the class. But I said NO- I am doing Communications. I wanted to do something that I loved. One of the
first mistakes I made – according to him.
Blogger
I have a hard time explaining to my father what this is. So every time that someone asks he refers them to me. When I explain, they understand but he never does. It has happened so often that it is getting hilarious. Having a profession that my father does not understand is a huge mistake- he should be able to rant about it, talk about it in public. It should as easy as – lawyer, doctor, teacher, engineer, etc…It was easy when I was practicing broadcast journalism but now it is not – still we soldier on.
Freelance
There are days when there is actually no activity- these are usually what I call resting days. Some are deliberate, some are not. After having a marathon of assignments to do – rest is inevitable.  Of recent, I have had to enforce it. This means that I will spend the whole day at home – resting. This is because if I do not rest – then undoubtedly I will get to crash in the near future. Resting days according to my Dad are Saturday and Sunday. Funny thing though – I always leave the house early on those days. Unique to this freelance thing as well is the fact I will work from anywhere as long as there is a good internet connection. This means that I have the luxury of having pajamas parties every day in the house as long
as I can get work done- something that my father off course does not understand. Working means you wake up early leave the house and go to an ‘office’. So there you have it – I am growing, I have grown, I am learning, I have learned. And I have made mistakes.
***PS: I will not even talk about the hair. That is for another
day. [I wear an afro – known to many as uncombed hair.]

One thought on “My greatest mistakes in life so far – according to my Dad

  1. Ruth, I totally love this post. I know what you are talking about. Have you by any chance listened to "Outsiders" – Lecrae? I am reminded that only I can be the best at being me. Thanks.

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