THAT SPACE: VERY IMPORTANT

A few people know about the right they have over their own personal space. Personal space is the space one needs to do his/her own things, have some time alone, meditate on his/her life or future.

But I want to talk about a different kind of personal space, the one which at the end of this article you will realize has been abused in one way or another. Am talking about the

• Distance in between you and another party when conversing i.e. your boss, boyfriend, family, friends, stranger etc.
• The closest you can get when sitting with a friend, stranger, boyfriend, pastor, and family, in a matatu or even your boss.
• Space you need while at the stage waiting for a matatu

To make it simple, let me just tell of a few incidents where my personal space has been evaded.

I one day boarded a matatu coming to town, so I went and sat next to a guy, on seating I felt so uncomfortable because the guy sat in a way that his legs were apart and he would stretch his hand almost over me when removing things from his jacket. I tried pushing him a bit so I can at least fit on the seat but it was like pushing a big rock that has been there for ages. So I ignored it telling myself that someone would alight and then I will move to the next seat. Now he took out his news paper to read, this was now even worse and everyone else in the matatu could now see how uncomfortable I was, now I said this is too much and no one seemed to be alighting soon. “Excuse me, you are making me very uncomfortable” I said to him and everyone turned to see what’s happening.

He did not even bother about it and went on reading his news paper, so I thought quietly for a while and again I said “excuse me, we have all paid the same amount and I also need to be comfortable”, that is when he now tried to sit well.

From this incident I realized that we really do need some personal space in all we do, and if someone is invading it then you should know its time to demand it because we should be enjoying every bit of life whether in a matatu or not.

At times you would be conversing with someone and they would stand so close to you that you would at times try to move back but they don’t realize that, its time to define that distance between you.

Or even the moments you want to be alone and someone would just not let you have that time alone, you’ve got to demand it because it’s your right.

Make your personal space known