By Bolatito Adebayo
Ed Sheeran had a surgery that left him with a lazy eye and severe speech problem as a child. On returning back to school, his world changed. The bullies pounced on him and whenever he tried to speak up in class, they shut him down. His red hair also made him an easy prey. Soon, little Ed Sheeran withdrew into his shell. He stopped participating in school activities.
However, the shy Ed Sheeran has a gift that brought sparks into his life. He loved singing and playing guitar. Music was the only thing that took him for who he was and so he joined the choir as a boy.
Despite the magic music brought into his life, Ed Sheeran still had a lingering problem. His speech problem and the speech therapy wasn’t working either.
Everyone had thought he was going to be like that forever, but things began to change when his father brought him Eminem’s record.
He was intrigued by the rapper and inspired. ED Sheeran memorised every word by the time he was 10.
Soon, he began writing his songs and his stutter vanished.
Ed Sheeran moved to London to pursue his music career but the journey to success wasn’t easy.
For many nights, he couldn’t find a place to lay his head and had to sleep at the parks or in the subway.
Some nights, he went to sleep hungry because he had no money. Many times he was on the verge of giving up. Nonetheless, he didn’t.
He went for several auditions but no luck, in 2009 alone he attended 300 shows but fate didn’t smile at him.
Then social media crawled in and he grabbed the opportunity. Ed Sheeran’s music caught fire and at last, his star began to shine. Today he is loved across the globe and has won many hearts.
It doesn’t matter how weird you look or what the world says about you.
It doesn’t matter if they mock you or how unpopular you are.
Believe in yourself, be persistent, embrace your uniqueness and don’t try to blend with the crowd.
Work with what you have and never stop trying. Soon your star will shine brightly and those who mocked you will eat the crumbs from your table.
