Fear has always been at the front of my mind since I was a child. Yet the next door does not bring any fear, only concern about what I might find. Will it be as bittersweet as the first door, or better? There has always been only one way to understand the unknown, and that is by going through it. The second door is embossed with the symbols ‘XXV’. Room 25.

I gently push open the next door. The light is blinding and there is a fire burning in the hearth, but the room does not seem very warm. It is decorated from floor to ceiling with orange and black balloons. The colours of my university. A huge banner hangs in the centre of the room with the word ‘Congratulations’ printed on it.

I make my way into the room and find my entire family there. My mother, my cousins and even my aunt Patricia, whom no one likes. What is the cause of all this camaraderie?

“There she is,” my mother says, as I walk into the room. “Our very own graduate. We are all so proud of you, my dear.”

I watch this version of myself. Unhappy, but still celebrating something she did not want to do but forced herself through for years because her mother told her to.

“And where is that handsome boyfriend of hers?” Aunty Patricia asks.

“Hush, hush now, Patricia. My little girl said she will not date until she is well established. She will find the man of her dreams.”

Woman, not man…I want to say, but not in front of such an unaccepting group of individuals who would rather flay me before they saw me with another woman.

Is this a memory or a moment of yearning? I do not see myself yearning for such unhappiness. I have never wanted to be a teacher and yet in this vision I graduate as one.

Why did I allow myself to walk a path which others set for me? Why did I accept being unhappy just to make others happy? That is not supposed to be the nature of our lives. We should live for ourselves and grow, learn and be more, but it is so difficult…

My skin prickles at the thought of having to live through this. Where is this cold breeze coming from?

I walk out of the room and shut the door behind me. This will never be a desire, but may be a consequence of not living for myself.

I storm towards the third door, nothing but anger moving me forward. Nothing could be worse than what I had just endured in that room.

Tell us: What do you make of this second vision? Can you relate to doing things you don’t want to do just to please others?