This was a speech that I wrote for club that I am. I figured that it would be nice to read something inspiring and uplifting. I hope you guys enjoy! If there is anything that I can tell this group of amazing individuals this evening is that life turns us in multiple directions without warning. That doesn’t mean that we should hide our heads under the covers in fear, it means that there will alway be a first time for everything. A lifetime of firsts that we all should embrace. There is no need to worry when your first might come. It will when you are in the right place, and at the right time. Like choking on a strawberry, or slipping on ice on your way to school, firsts will always be there. I will never forget the first time that I drove over a median on the road and the car was vertical for just a minute. We were fine! No one was hurt. We just took an unexpected vertical ride for a short minute. Or two. It was a nice change to our normal routine. My husband seemed to liven up shortly after. Allow me to share our family’s favorite story of firsts which is a story about my daughters. It was a beautiful day in early spring, and I decided that it was a great day for a trip to the park. I packed my daughter’s into our car, and rode to the park with them. They were excited to get out of the house. When we got to the park they could hardly contain their excitement. Both jumped out of the car in an instant, running everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. The park had a big yellow tunnel slide, a set of swing sets, monkey bars, and the ground was lined with wood chips. Being the ever so careful young mom that I was, I chose to sit in a spot where I could keep them in clear view and within earshot. I watched them both with so much love as they continued to play well into the afternoon. During this time, children came and went. One little girl took interest in my daughters. They played and rode down the big yellow tunnel slide. Their excited little voices could be heard for miles as they went down that big yellow tunnel slide. It wasn’t until there was a small argument on who would go down first that things began to take a turn. My middle child, Samira, came down the slide first and landed on a bed of wood chips. As she was getting up, the little girl jumped out from behind the slide with a handful of wood chips. She flung that handful of wood chips in Samria’s hair! Samira began to cry. Her small face had tears running down it as her big sister came to comfort her. It was so nice to watch the two girls at that moment, one comforting, the other wiping the tears from her face. Then, as my older daughter was taking out the wood chips from Samira’s hair, I heard Samira take a deep inhale. “Let’s get her.” I watched horrified as both girls took off behind the little girl who was now by the monkey bars. One sister knocked the girl down and sat on her, while the other crouched down by her head. Samira poured, and poured all the wood chips her little hands could gather onto the girl’s head. The little girl was crying, and screaming. She was shaking her head from side to side trying to get the wood chips away from her face. But, the more she screamed, the more wood chips would fall in the little girl’s mouth. What was I to do? I pulled my daughters off that little girl that was screaming. With one tucked under each of my arms, I quickly walked to my car and put both of the girls in their seats. I got into the driver’s seat and took off, never looking back at the park. That was the first time I broke up a fight. It was the first time I watched the girls comfort one another. It was the first time I saw how deep their bond went. It was the first time they worked as a team. It was the first time Samira stood up for herself and it was the first time I witnessed the courage of a 3 and 5 year old. How many times in our lifetimes have we been afraid of our firsts? How many times have we tried to avoid our firsts? Without our firsts there would not be amazing stories to tell. We would not be able to learn how much courage or strength we really have. We would not be able to grow stronger once that first time has passed. Every first comes with lessons. The first time I broke up a fight I learned that my daughters are not to be messed with. The first time I drove over that median, I realized my glasses were important. The first time I fell on ice on my way to school I realized that I could not rush through anything to get to my end goal. The first time my son choked on a strawberry, he learned to be wary of a person telling a joke at the dinner table. It is my sincere hope that everyone who listens here tonight has a lifetime of firsts. I hope that we all wake up every morning to throw those covers off our heads. I hope we all embrace those firsts with the courage and strength that we gained from our last firsts. Tonight, please join me in celebrating one of my firsts- Writing and delivering a humorous speech for Toastmasters. Thank you. The Previous Article...
0 Comments
While the world continues to progress in the most astounding way known in human history, we continue to see instances in which individuals are completely narrow minded and focused solely on their best interest. Unfortunately, the depth of these individual's reach has progressed into positions of power, in which they have certain access to make things increasingly hard for others. My hope is that with this article, I might be able to help those who wish to become a better version of themselves, in order to achieve higher levels of greatness. Those are the individuals who are primarily unhappy with who they are. Those who feel a little ugly on the inside when certain actions are taken. Hi. Welcome. I hope you are here because you see the error in your ways and wish for more than your day-to-day strife. The first step in becoming a better version of you is to become open-minded. Here are 6 small habits that if used daily will help you step into the right direction. #1 Cast Your Ego Aside Understand that every individual that you cross paths with has their own story, and their own problems. While you struggle with a car that needs maintenance, there is an individual out there that wishes they had a vehicle. I am unsure how the ego that has placed so many ill-fitting individuals high on the chain of command has ever been developed. While leaders within any corporation should have the characteristic of confidence, some need to learn to tone it down. Because some hold offices or positions in which offer a small amount of power over others, they feel as their ego is often right. Some develop an over inflated ego which now overpowers all other logic. Those who live amongst these types of individuals must learn cunning ways to earn their influence. Unfortunately, they start to decrease the value of our work due to this. They feel unappreciated and resentful. Let’s stop the loop. Let’s set aside our own thoughts of self-worth, or self-worthlessness and start to put our own needs aside to think of others. Use that over inflated ego to fight for those who need to be fought for. More often than not, your ego will pop it’s head up when the situation does not warrant it to. It takes time in order for us to control our egos. So, this might happen often when you initially choose to reel it in. And that’s okay. Take the time to acknowledge what warranted your ego to make its debut. Prepare yourself for the next possible time that the situation might arise. #2 Allow people to rebuttal Once your ego has been tamed, it is time that you opened your ears to other’s. There are times in which you will not know the answer to every situation. Accept it. You will need to accept it in order to understand that you NEED people to show you where you went wrong. Or what other solutions are available to the problem that you may have overlooked. There are individuals around you that might have better insight on the situation on hand. Their knowledge should not be discarded without taking the time to understand their point of views. Sit patiently while others discuss their point of view. When you feel your ego start to sprout, breath in deeply, and exhale slowly. Be alert to what awakened your ego and take a mental note of it. #3 Allow yourself time to digest information This step is a kindness to you and your emotions. At one point when I was in my 20s, I wanted nothing more than to dead all emotions. My young mind correlated that with having emotional intelligence. Clearly that is not the case. Having emotional attachments to others is a strength. It allows you to empathize with other individuals. This in turn will allow you to maneuver through the workplace smoothly. It will also allow you to make work relationships last. Taking time to digest why you felt a sort of emotional response against information received is one of the most intelligent things any individual can do. It allows time for self-reflection, and a better understanding of one’s own thoughts. After information is received, walk away from the situation. Spend time with family and friends. Enjoy a glass of wine. Come back with a fresh prospective, and allow yourself time to analyze over the proposed plans. #4 Allow yourself time to think of possible outcomes A great many influential leaders of our times were visionaries. They always kept their thoughts on the bigger picture and their goals. Small achievements were steps to the bigger end result. Likewise, some of the most successful businessmen and woman have also followed this same path. They analyzed information and thought of every possible outcome that may arise before making a choice. You must do the same. Make no mistake, that every action has an equal reaction to it. There is no step that you make that will go unnoticed in this world. Especially now with use of the internet. Therefore, it is absolutely vital that you stop for a moment and look down the path of each choice. Make sure that you acknowledge that there are almost always 3 choices. Take action, take no action, or take the opposite and equal reaction. #5 Learn to respect other's individuality Most of the time, I feel that the higher a person is on the food chain, the more they forget that other people are uniquely individual from each other. This is here to reinforce this idea. Understand that people are completely different from one another. This is something that should be celebrated, not tamed. Corporations spend big bucks on hiring managers who do not wish to acknowledge that other people are different. They want everyone to integrate smoothly into one cookie cutter image of where we should go, what we should do, and how we behave. This is the worst possible thing that can ever be done. This process literally stifles all creative energy. Then you end up getting a group of robots that just yes you to death. They offer no solutions and no hope of change. Respecting individual differences allow others to feel secure in their position within the company. They will be able to speak freely on certain objections that they may have, and will be able to give detailed rationales as to why. Do not ever discredit someone’s ability to give you unique insight because you feel they are beneath you, or lack the education. Everyone’s life’s experiences have taught them things that books may have otherwise missed. Acknowledging this will open your mind to other possibilities. Those in history who have made the most impact on our culture have been those who's self-sacrifice has been evident time and time again. Their resilience continues to astound us as we read bibliographies. Their compassionate nature has created an influence that has swept the nation. And they continue to influence long past their death. More and more it feels as though we continually mis-read and misinterpret their actions. We continue to live lives that we feel we “deserve” without putting forth a sacrifice, or the discipline needed in order for us to find that greatness. It is with a heavy heart that those of us who still remain compassionate and trusting watch the world spin further and further into disorder and chaos. Slowly our mentality switches and we decide that maybe the other side is better. That throwing our compassionate nature to the wind is the best way to go about things. I sincerely hope that is not the case. Stay here. Fight the ongoing stream that leads most individuals towards the lure of chaos and disorder. Be safe, and stay well. May we suggest another article... |
AuthorYaritza Ellison has been an nurse since 2010. She has been essential to the healing process of many and seeks to continue to do so. Her passion for mental health and self help literature has lead her to launch justyari.org, where she aspires to coach young ladies navigating through work-life balance. Categories
All
|