Where It All Began
Born of a family of three, I grew up loving my personal space. When I was in grade school, I was comfortable with having just one friend with whom I occasionally played with. My favorite game was to build my own miniature "mud city" complete with roads, multi-storey buildings, bridges, sewage system, and a swimming pool in the small plant box outside the house. I created my own little world and I loved it. My friends were never in groups but only individuals. Those privileged few were typically those who were "harmless" and "nerds" in class. I was so silent that I was consistently awarded the "Most Behaved" ribbon in commencement activities for a couple of years.
When I stepped into high school, I can say that I improved a bit in a way that I was already able to add two more to my number of friends. I was too shy to have friends because I thought that I wasn't able to relate to their interests and that I am too uncool. During this time when it may have been crucial for me to learn to express the things on my mind, I had no one to speak to, my dad was nowhere to be found while my mom had to work abroad to keep me enrolled at school. I can't blame my parents for that but that's how I essentially grew up as an introvert.
The Perils of Not Being Able to Express
Growing up like that had its own consequences. I was passive, numb at others' feelings, too afraid to do things, and I had troubles identifying even my own thoughts and emotions. It was quite difficult for me to connect to other people because in my mind, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to relate to what they're feeling anyway because I can't even understand my own feelings. This closed my opportunities to develop my self-esteem. So I figured, being able to express one's self is crucial to one's personality development just as Maria Montessori adequately describes:
The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people. - Maria Montessori (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/expressing)
Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that just being an introvert is not totally bad. Rather, it is the inability to express, or of the lack thereof of one's thoughts and emotions that cripples a person from reaching one's fullest potential.
My Journey to Learning to Speak Out
Good thing for me, in college, I was forced to start getting out of my shell and speak. I studied nursing back in the University and as you may very well know, a nurse's main job is to talk with patients to be able to come up with a precise assessment of the patient, and to verbalize the therapeutic instructions to them. I think that was a good start for me.
When I got my Bachelors Degree in Nursing, I immediately tried to apply to a lot of hospitals and companies. None of them responded except one, a company that sells and distributes Medical Equipment to hospitals. That company hired me as a medical representative in which I was mainly responsible for convincing top doctors and hospital decision makers to purchase multi-million-peso medical equipment and devices. This further stretched my abilities to accurately express my self. It didn't only do that but it also taught me how to speak to persuade people to follow what I suggest.
Making my self active in church also greatly developed the skill in me. Interacting with those who compose the family, the church, trained me and helped me improve my self confidence significantly. This is especially when I got appointed to lead a group of 70 Christians.
Never Thought of Making Writing a Career
I'm grateful for the improvements that I've had so far. I have been gaining a lot of friends from different places and I am now able to speak in front of a lot of people on stage. Despite that, I admit that I never thought of making writing or blogging as a hobby, much less a career. Not until #Steemit arrived.
Major Adjustments
To be honest, its a little nerve-racking for me to write articles for everyone to read and critic. So the first thing that I have to adjust is my Mindset. I think that if I just think of writing as a way of expressing my self freely and just remember the benefits that come with it, those fears will be gone.
The next thing that I have to adjust is my Schedule. It still takes a lot of time for me to finish just one article now. In fact, this article took me around three hours to finish. Because of that, I would really have to allot a good amount of time under my schedule. This would entail sacrificing some luxuries to be replaced with something that I think is productive and very beneficial.
Finally, I also think that I will have to train my brain to be more observant and sensitive to learning and ideas from now on. I anticipate that there will come a time when I would run out of ideas. Doing this will ensure that I will keep on writing on things that I love.
Thankful for the Opportunity
I am entirely grateful for my friend, @stewart-suarez for continuously encouraging me to enjoy this wonderful opportunity through his passion and faith in writing. I'm also thankful for @bobiecayao for the continuous support. Ultimately, I thank the One above for giving all of us all that we need and more than that, all beautiful things around us for us to enjoy, observe, capture, and write about. Let's Steem as we go!
@bobiecayao
@eduard104
@stewart-suarez
@jhunfer888
@zenfernandez
@roxyladugal066
@flowlikewateral
@princeofsmile
@vergelricafort
@dumagueteinker
@fudgeebar-cadiz
@rachielabregonde
@werlin-abregonde
@ver-kiram
@steem-as-you-go
@steemingheart
@badboydre
@margaret79
@jaytropezado
Looking forward for more individuals who would be interested in joining our movement.