A Long Walk Home

My brother and I used to go to school in an auto,the man would pick us up from our home and drop us to school everyday. One day I walked home from school because he forgot to pick me up and my brother hadn’t come to school. I was scared my heart was beating out of my chest but I kept my head down and kept walking. Strangers would pass by and I’d get chills because an eight year old walking alone only seemed like the beginning of a really scary story. But I managed to reach the lane which led to my apartment. My brother came running towards me because he had called school and they said I had left. He hugged me. I smiled. On being asked about how I walked home alone I said “I just did”. Never did I ever mention how afraid I was. I pretended like I walked home with great ease. This is what got me thinking today. The fear of being called weak is such that we pretend to be okay.

Maybe as a kid I wouldn’t have given it much thought but now that I do look back I see why we become who we are. I was afraid. I dint know what would happen to me. I assumed the worst out of the situation but I was fortunate enough to reach home safe and sound. We all have been told to “be brave“ ever since we’re little. Being afraid is normal. We develop a habit of pretending like everything is fine and we suffer later. We fail to seek help because we’re “brave”. Don’t let anyone,not even your loved ones make you feel like you’re going to be weak if you ask for help. Talk. Hear someone out. You never know what people close to you might be going through. We shouldn't let children think that they need to pretend to be okay when they're clearly not fine. They should be taught to acknowledge the problem at hand or else in the future they'll begin to suppress theur feelings and wouldn't be able to express themselves freely when they're in a stressful situation. The stereotypes like “boys are supposed to be tough” shouldn’t exist in the mind of young children. If they have such thoughts they will not be in touch with their emotions & that can be problematic for them in the future.