What's something you used to believe in strongly, but no longer do? What changed your mind?
Life is filled with lessons and experiences that keep shaping our beliefs and opinions.
We learn, we unlearn and we relearn.
Sometimes we take a strong stance during an argument but few years after, we realise how wrong we could be.
Growing up, my mum was an exceptional cook. I know many children believe that their mum is a good cook or even the best but mine is backed up with a reason; the wives of our neighbours used to come to my mum to teach them some delicacies.
I witnessed my mum teach women how to make fried rice, chicken source and even the popular "ofe nsala".
I believed it was solely the woman's duty to cook even though my dad could cook as well and would most times scrutinize my mum's cooking, it was my mum who did the cooking at home.
I didn't like entering the kitchen to help out. A few minutes in the kitchen irritated my legs and made me sweat uncomfortably.
So I believed a guy should avoid the kitchen at all cost.
Fast forward to my first year in the university, I lived in school far away from home and I was confronted with feeding myself and for the first time, I found out the importance of having culinary skills for yourself.
I was buying food for the fist few weeks but having a large stomach, it would cost me so much to be satisfied in the eateries and restaurants so I decided to start cooking and I faced another challenge. How do I start?
So before I cook any food, I would call my mum to itemize the stuffs I need before proceeding to market to buy them.
When I come back from market I would call her again to let me know the stages of the cooking.
This continued for the next few weeks until I mastered the various recipes and began to cook without her assistance.
Subsequently, I have changed my opinion and belief. I now believe that cooking is for everyone.
Such a life saving skill could come in handy at any point in time and as such everyone should have it.
When I began to cook, I was able to eat as much as I wanted and get satisfied while spending minimally.
At some point, it looked as if it was time consuming to cook your own food especially the exam periods. Then I adjusted by getting a fridge and cooking much during the weekends, storing them for the week thereby saving time, cost and still achieving satisfaction.
I remember a friend of mine who could not cook and had no plans of learning how to cook. Whenever he received his pocket money, it would finish within a few days and he didn't spend extravagantly.
It was always hilarious watching him calculate his expenses because he felt he lost money or was stolen from only to realise that his expenses were in order but the cost of food made it appear like he was robbed.
I got so good at cooking that I participated in a cooking competition and emerged with second position. The thumbnail image is me cooking in the competition.