https://penastory.com/2016/11/14/the-chain-series-it-doesnt-matter/

I used to think that I was frozen and that love was a silly figment of foolish romance paperbacks but I was wrong. The realities of love stared me in the eye when Jessie became hands in glove…

Jessie and Bill were greatly in love with each other. At some point it was difficult to understand how they both came together because of their apparent differences. Jessie was the cynosure of many eyes, she was from a wealthy background and that made her all the more desired. Poor Bill, just a brainy boy on the breadline; too impoverished to take care of himself let alone another. All through college they stuck to each other like Eskimos in an igloo. I could remember the last college party; it was memorable. No one expected Bill to be Jessie’s date but then they were happy together. Being a friend to Jessie, she usually confided in me, how ostracized she had become because of Bill. Many of her folks condemned her for having anything to do with Bill.

“What would people think of you when they see you with Bill, the lowlife?” her friends asked but she defied all entreaties to leave Bill in the lurch. Oh Jessie, it must have been a tough decision for her to make. The pressure of people’s thoughts about what you do and how you live could be overwhelmingly exhausting.

Soon after egress from college, Jessie became a full-fledged barrister, her forte. Bill, having studied Business Management kept toiling to curry a job for himself, it was an uphill task. I remember several occasions Bill would ride his bike to see Jessie in the firm she practised. Damn, the mere presence of a bike guy hooking up with an esteemed lady was demeaning. On a particular occasion, Jessie had a board meeting with other attorneys in the firm when she got a message that Bill was around to see her.

After a peep down the balustrades, Jim, Jessie’s boss queried, “What affair could you have with such a guy? Why not deal with people of your station in life?”

Jessie felt embarrassed and left the meeting hall. She overheard a handful of them bursting into gales of laughter as she skedaddled out of the hall. She went back to them and said, “That man you see over there looking for me will someday become the President of America.”

Yeah right, you would agree with me they called her bluff but she was right. That “Jessie” is the Hillary Clinton, a woman who stood by her husband through the thorns of life.
Bill Clinton became the first President from Arkansas, one of the smallest states in America with Hillary as his wife. Despite the condemnations reeled on their union, all that mattered was what she saw in Bill and not what others thought about her.

Upon knowing their story, I was touched. What a coward I have been. I have shirked from so much responsibilities and passions simply because I feared that people would fight shy of me. But really, who cares? All that ever mattered and will ever matter is what is good for me and not what someone else “sees” to be good for me. I am lovelorn because I left the one that truly loved me for the one that I loved, believing that people would condemn me for loving such a “lowlife” but now I suffer rejection from the one that I call ‘worthwhile‘. I must have been incarcerated mentally; the fear of opinions, the fear of being calumniated, the fear of them. Sometimes, I am disappointed at myself because I know I am better than the decisions I make, the risks I malinger from and the passions I evade. I will learn to live up to myself.

The greatest imprisonment of mankind is the excessive consideration of the thought of others about what we do and how we live. Many persons are one decision away from an entirely better life but the questions of “What will my friends say? How will they see? What will they think?” muffle them up to shrink into nothingness. Those perceptions, those thoughts, none of them matters; all that matters is you. Not until you set your mind free from the disturbing thought of people’s perception of what you do, you will never be totally free to live happily. That which you have passion for only requires a start; you will only get better. Nothing happens when you do nothing, hence, emancipate yourself from mental slavery. It may be loving someone, it may be business, it may be an avocation you are interested in. Disabuse your mind of the thought of others and go for it. Always remember that not until you do, you are gagged in the heaviest chains.

Source: PenAStory - www.penastory.com