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TIFU Did I Say Too Much? My Barber Left His Family...!

A few years ago, I went to a local barber who also worked as an elementary school teacher. We chatted for a while, and I don't know how, but I ended up talking to him about the importance of reading. I mentioned that kids find it hard to read and sometimes get bored, right? He agreed. I told him about methods that can help make reading enjoyable for kids and also about a video I recently watched: “Fenix Seminar by Brian Tracy.” In the video, they talked about an experiment with students with low IQs: they treated them as if they were geniuses, and by the end of the year, they had improved tremendously.

Then, I shared a story about a friend of mine from high school who loved playing soccer; he was really good at it. But his family convinced him to study Business Administration at university. He graduated, worked in several companies, and about five years later, when I saw him, he was depressed, stuck, and empty. He confessed to me that he didn’t understand why he had given up soccer when it was his passion.

The barber was listening closely, and it seemed like that story struck a chord with him. I told him that one should follow their passion to avoid ending up frustrated like my friend, but sometimes we let our family influence our choices... He responded, “You’re right.”

What’s crazy is that, after that conversation, not even two weeks passed before he disappeared from the family barber shop, and his wife hired other barbers. At first, I thought he had moved for work, but months passed, then years, and I never saw him again.

I often wonder, did I say too much? Did my words influence his decision to leave? Did he leave his family to follow his passion? Was it right for me to share that story that led him to make such a radical decision? Would he have stayed with his family if I hadn't spoken up? Maybe he chose to follow what he really loved but didn’t have his wife’s support?

I never found out, but that conversation left me with a lot of questions.

Tl: Dr. I told my barber about a friend who gave up his passion for soccer to study what his family wanted, and then he also left his family and his barber shop. Now I wonder if my words were the cause of his decision.

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