Growing up, we believe so many thing without question and that is because the person that told us is an elder and one of them is if you swallowed guava seeds, you would get appendicitis. It was one of those warnings I heard over and over from the adults around me. My parents, grandparents, and even some neighbors would always remind us to spit out the seeds whenever we ate guava. They said the seeds would get stuck inside our bodies and eventually lead to an operation, this even made me hate guava at first, I can't eat what will send me to hospital.
As a child, I never doubted it. Why would I? The adults always sounded so serious whenever they talked about it. Because of that, when I started eating guava again, I eating it became became a slow process for me. I would carefully separate the seeds from the flesh before taking a bite. If I accidentally swallowed a few seeds, I would spend the rest of the day worrying that something bad was going to happen. Looking back now, it's funny how scared I was over a few tiny seeds.
Guava was one of my favorite fruits then, especially when it was fresh from the backyard. I remember climbing trees with my cousins, picking ripe guavas, and sitting together while eating them. Even then, we would remind each other not to swallow the seeds. We honestly believed we were avoiding a trip to the hospital. Even at times, our parents used to beat us if they see us eating guava.
It wasn't until I got older that I found out the story wasn't true. During school and later from reading reliable health information, I learned that swallowing guava seeds does not cause appendicitis. The seeds simply pass through the digestive system like many other foods. Appendicitis is a medical condition that can happen for different reasons, but eating guava seeds isn't considered one of them.
I was surprised when I learned the truth because I had believed that myth for so many years. It also made me realize how many things we accept as children simply because trusted adults tell us they are true. Most of the time, they don't mean to mislead us. They are usually repeating what they were told when they were young. These stories get passed down from one generation to the next until they become accepted as facts.
What I learnt from this experience is that It's okay to question things and look for reliable information before believing them. Not every popular saying or childhood warning is backed by science. At the same time, I appreciate those little myths because they remind me of my childhood and the people who cared enough to look after me, even if the advice wasn't completely accurate.
To this day, whenever I eat a guava, I can't help but smile. For a brief second, I still remember that little kid who carefully picked out every seed, convinced that swallowing just one could lead to appendicitis. It's a funny memory now, and one that reminds me how much we learn as we grow older.
Sometimes, growing up isn't just about getting older, it is also about discovering that some of the things we once believed so strongly were simply childhood myths.
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