Mislabelled

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Growing up, I was frequently labelled "argumentative". Sometimes, it was because I was asking querulously for the umpteenth time "But why though?" Other times, I would be yelling petulantly, "But that's not fair!" at some perceived injustice.⁣
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It was hard for my parents. In particular, my Mom bore the brunt of my exasperation. We fought nearly every day while my Dad who was away most of the time, was secretly amused by my temperament. They didn't know what to do with such an aggrieved child and frankly neither did I.⁣
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So it came as no surprise that it would also be my Mom who was the first to suggest law school. Granted, it wasn't spoken in a gently encouraging demeanour but rather with more of an angry snap, "You should be a lawyer!⁣
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Fast forward 30 odd years and I had been practising law for over a decade. The work was fast-paced, challenging and often exciting. I loved it. But the longer I did it and the more comfortable I felt, the more aware I became that something was amiss.⁣
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You see, what my Mom and the world misconstrued as argumentative was in fact a boundless sense of curiosity. Instead of being shown how to find my why's every time I was confronted by "But why though", I was taught how to silence it.⁣
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I wonder how many of us were similarly misdiagnosed and misunderstood as children? The contemplative child wrongly labelled as shy. The passionate child wrongly labelled as angry. The creative child wrongly labelled as messy.⁣
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What if we could rewrite the narrative that was written for us? What would your pen tell you about the person buried under all those labels?⁣
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"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥".⁣ ~ 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧]
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