***FEAR***

I world start with a story. When I was about 8 years old, living at our former home,two brothers do come to where we live to fetch water from the tap. Two of them were twins and about my age. And every single time they come to fetch water, they bullied me.

And one day I got tired and decided to complain to my big bro he was way older than us though. You know what he told me? He said,when next they come, lock the gate. When they lift thier buckets of water, push them down. If a fight breaks out, I'll step in. That was the master plan.

****Relax,I'm taking you somewhere...****

So one day, the older twin came to fetch water, he lifted his bucket of water. I locked the gate quietly, my big bro was watching from the balcony, when he took a step, I shoved him to the ground, he fell down,his bucket broke, oh! he was so furious!.

Then he rushed at me,I looked up to the balcony,and my big bro was gone. Ah! I felt betrayed. But anytime I replay this incidence in my head instead of seeing betrayal, I would say I learnt a lesson.

That in life,at some points,those back up you were waiting for might step back so that you can finally stand up for your self. I had no choice but to fight back. And honestly, it wasn't as difficult as I initially feared.

Now I understand that bullies don't live in people but in your fear of people. Whether I won the fight or not, it didn't really matter, because the moment I stood up for myself, the rules of the game changed for ever. Because from that day, no one ever bullied me again.

A few lessons...

• FEAR feeds on hesitation, the longer you delay the more your bullies grow.

• Your first strike is not against your opponent but against your own doubt of making it out.

• COURAGE is not the absence of fear. It's the presence of the decision that fear doesn't have a say.

That was my turning point, my big bro didn't save me, rather he set me up to save my self. And that's one truth about life, the people who love you the most won't always shield you, sometimes they would shove you into the ring, because they know that you are stronger than you think

• Sometimes God steps back, not that he has abandoned us, but because he knows if he fights for us at that level,we won't grow muscles for future battles.

So try growing on your own when there's no support, and you would arrive. Thanks to my big bro for believing in me.

Thanks for reading my article.