I have grown to understand that you can't satisfy people no matter how much you try to do so, they will always have one or two unfavorable things to say about you; things that you wouldn't expect them to say about you just because of how much you have related with them.
Since I am used to it, it doesn't baffle me anymore what some set of people think about me. I used the word "set" because there are times when what someone thinks about you is right and I will be the decider of that after checking myself thoroughly. Life is funny and the humans in it are the comedian, taking a lot of things they say about you seriously can hurt your feelings and even make you deny yourself peace and happiness.
I haven't spent a lot of time in the world and I have heard people say a lot of false things about me, but it really doesn't get to me. I will share a few of these misconceptions they have about me, what led to it and how I have been able to handle it.
George is proud.
This has been something I have heard right from my secondary school days, I tried bending to what my friends wanted but it didn't end well for me.
After school, my mates usually walk home in groups. They visit classmates houses and waste too much time doing unnecessary things, it wasn't my style of life so many thought I was feeling too big for not joining them in those pointless activities. My mom had a small shop where she sold kerosene, she was running the business on a loan so I always rush there after school to help her with sales.
I didn't have enough time to waste so they misunderstood my busy life for pride. Many still look at me that way, my life is still as busy as it was but they aren't seeing it because they have enough time to relax. We have different commitments in life and trying to satisfy people will definitely distract us from them, you can't expect me to sit around talking when I have important things to do.
George is stingy.
You become stingy in the eye of people when you choose not to be wasteful, I still got this remark recently when someone told me she is selling Aso Ebi for 30k. I told her I wasn't sure about buying and the next thing I heard was that you are stingy, I just laughed it off.
I am always conscious of my expenses, I do whenever I have and don't whenever I don't have, I usually put a lot of things into consideration before spending.
The way I turn up to help people with little things usually makes them think I have enough whereas I don't, I just find it difficult to walk someone in need especially when it has to do with feeding. So when they present me with the opportunity to waste and I turn it down, I become stingy.
Imagine a friend telling you to purchase a product from him or her for a double price and you expect me to buy it when I can get the same quality at a cheaper rate? I won't because we get our money differently, every penny I have is a reward for hard work and wasting mean I don't value my effort.
George is an internet fraudster.
Sitting indoor suits my lifestyle a lot, I usually sit in my room if I have nothing to do outdoor, and blogging has taken that to the next level. There are times people barely see and when they discover that I have been at home all this while, they start praising me, calling me names like hushpuppi and others.
Recently, I went to have a haircut, and a guy who stays on the street was asking me for updates. I told him I didn't understand him and he was like we can work together, we just need to share ideas and make money together. It was then I understood what he was saying, I told him I wasn't into cyber crime popularly known as yahoo yahoo. He looked at me with disbelief, I used the opportunity to introduce him to blogging and he agreed to check it out but I am yet to see him register till today.
The way I handle things now is quite different from how it used to be then. When I was younger, I always try to make them see things from my perspective but as I grew older, I discovered it was a complete waste of time because no matter how you try to make people understand you, the more they read negative meaning to your explanation so what's the essence of trying to prove your self over and over again.
These things no longer give me concern, I just go about living my life the best way I can but there are times I have a moment to recheck myself to see how I am doing when an elder calls my attention to something unusual about me.