When I saw this week's prompt I was confused at first because I didn't quite understand it.
"Words that mark life"
But then reading through I realized it was just really easy and it simply meant words that have had or are still having a lasting impact in my life. They are important and sometimes they come as reminders mostly because of a lesson learnt from experience.
And then my confusion turned into excitement because finally, I thought. An opportunity to endlessly talk about my mum.
I love my parents. So talking about her won't be complete without her significant half.
My Dad is the fun type, always punching me (playfully of course) and I end up screaming, "Mum!!!!!!!!!" which is one of my favorite words in the world.
Then my mum goes, "Perry leave that girl alone".
But that's just me and my Dad's way, we both do it just to get her talking.
I said talk about my mum specifically because even though my Dad and I play alot we don't have that mushy father-daughter relationship where he sits down and has that heart to heart conversations.
My mother in the other hand is the queen of this.
I'll be citing the specifics I hear in my head and situations that they have helped me out.
"Calm down". Now this seems very ordinary. Just a typical calm down but those two words have really done a lot for me. I remember the first time she said it to me. I was scattering the house looking for my tiara, a gift I had gotten on my seventh birthday. At that time it felt really irritating because how would calming down help me find anything.
I ended up finding it. Many years later, anytime I need to find something desperately I still hear her voice in my head telling me, " Calm down". Then I calm down and tell myself I'll find it and I always do.
"Learn how to greet and say thank you.It won't take anything from you". As a little girl, my mouth was always glued together. I didn't see the point of it. It got to the extent that a woman in our area reported me. My mum sat me down and told me it was a bad attitude, not knowing how to greet and then the issue of not saying thank you when someone gives me something was brought up. I got a scolding, something I dislike more than anything.
I cannot count the number of times I've been favoured because of a simple greeting or simply saying thank you.
Just last week, I entered a bus to go to school, I greeted the only man inside and when I got down he asked the bus driver not to get money from me which brings me to the next one.
Claudia Smile. I didn't like it when people "felt" like they could just talk to me.So I would block my ear with my earpods and frown my face like there's no tomorrow. I tried to put it in the most pleasant way but my mother's words exactly were, "Stop carrying your face like something is smelling, fix that face and you better smile".
My mother is the absolute best(lol).
I've learnt to smile more and I can't say I don't like the compliments that pours in.
People are like, "your smile is so pretty" making my already enormous head swell even more.
"Humble Yourself". Even up to this point I won't say I'm the most humble person but I try to be. I used to have this one sided mentality that if you're humble people will walk over you, but now looking at it from a "grown perspective" I can say I know the difference and when to lower my pride.
People say your conscience comes like a voice in your head. I won't technically say she's my conscience but I find myself in situations when the things she had said to me sometimes even though the ones in passing has helped me out a whole lot.
My Dad gives advice too like study hard, focus and don't let the little irrelevant things distract you. These words have kept me going through school and I can say I've heeded to them because I am doing well academically with zero carryovers. I hope it stays that way.
There's a last one, this one recent and courtesy of my brother and it's "Claudia remove your leg from that wall". Lying on the bed and putting my legs on the wall helps me think. The the blood flows downwards from my leg to my brain (lol) and it makes him angry because I end up dirtying the wall.
Wherever I am and I unconsciously put my leg on the person's wall, I feel an invisible glare. My legs leave the wall immediately.
Most of the words that are getting me through life have come from my family which just proves something I've always known.
My family is pretty awesome
