Childhood Limitations

Week 3

"How did those around you (parents, teachers, peers, etc.) impact your childhood passions? Were your passions and interests supported and encouraged or stunted in some way?

What did "those in power" tell you about yourself as a child that has limited you, made you fearful or held you back? write down these limitations and what you might have done as a child if you weren't held back for some reason."

Thinking back to the childhood memories that came up, the limitations, if any, were most probably have been self-imposed ones. I'm very grateful to say that I have loving parents, especially my mum, that gave me support and encouragement as a child pursuing my interests. 

She would buy me books for me to read, sometimes without me even asking. As I grew older, my taste in books gradually changed; from children's books to books like Da Vinci Code. My dad was the one who introduced to the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, which changed my way of thinking and from there I was hungry for more. From where I came from, it was quite hard to find good books and if there were any, they were rather expensive. So whenever my parents travel out of Brunei, they would look for books that I would have liked. They fed my hunger and allowed me to grow intellectually.

My mum was also very supportive when I got into architectural origami; she got me the supplies that I needed to start off on my projects and when I'm done, she would give words of compliments and encouragement. Thank you, Mum. 

There was also a time when I used to dance a lot with a group. That was where a brotherhood began, but as time went on, each of us had to go our separate ways. However, two of them are now my closest friends. When we first started dancing, we had a teacher that helped us find our way. She introduced us to a studio and pretty soon, we were really good friends with the dance instructors there. They gave us pointers and advice on how we could dance better. All in all, you could say my childhood was filled with support and encouragement from different walks of life.

Any limitations that might have came up would surely be self-imposed. Thoughts about what people would think as 'right' or 'good' could discourage you in someway. Thought like, "I'm not good enough", could damage your confidence and self-esteem. To a certain extent, this was what happened to me, but I would say that the main factor was my habit of procrastination. I used to put off doing stuff until it got to the point that I can't be bothered to start on it anymore. That is why I'm making a conscious effort now to change that habit in order to create a better future.