My mother more than once told me that I should learn to be independent and self-reliant. In one instance she even told me, when going on dates or even group dates or gimmicks always bring extra money. You will never know if you will have a misunderstanding with your companion and you end up going home alone.
I remember that as a kid I never had anyone help me with my homework and that one time I asked someone to help me understand the instructions, I ended up the only one in the class who got it wrong. That is why I promised myself I will never ask anyone's help with my school work. So that if it ended up in a mess I have no one to blame but myself.
When I was in college, I ended up in bad terms with my thesis mates so I ended up doing it alone (at first). I was so scared that I cannot do it, but I always keep my focus on the goal, to graduate that semester because if not, I would have failed my mother once again.
When I was looking for a job, I tried small time jobs, proofreading, data entry, doing research paper for foreign students. But I know deep inside that I could do better and I could feel (though she tries her best not to show it) that my mother was disapponited too. She knew I could do better.
In one family event, relatives were talking how someone has been so generous and kind. My mother told me, " Don't you ever think that he will do the same for you. Rely on your own. Never ever think that you have him to help you". I shrugged it off because deep inside, I wanted to believe if worse comes to worse that person would not fail me. And recently, I was proven wrong about my perception and my mother was right, "Never rely that someone would help you.Always prepare for difficult times because you should never feel confident that someone will help you."
Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups -Antonio Banderas, The Assassin
