I had an opportunity to compete in a speech contest on Sunday. In my Toastmasters club a month ago, I placed second in a speech contest. I learned late Saturday night that both first and second place advanced to the area contest.
Not only had I not used the time to practice and improve my speech, but I had also gotten a COVID booster shot on Friday that had me feeling completely drained Saturday. I spent the day in bed watching movies and resting.
If only I’d seen the opportunity sooner.
In the that’s-good-that’s-bad sequence of life, more effort is required to turn disappointment into success. When things are going well, it’s easier to stay upbeat. When they’re not going well, it takes more effort to turn your perspective around.
I titled the speech I delivered a month ago “My Rich Inheritance.” It was a story about how I witnessed my mom transform her last day from one of loss into something beautiful.
Without delivering the speech again here, let me summarize it by saying that Mom was raised in an affluent family that had built its wealth in real estate. What Mom passed, in terms of financial wealth, was enough to take my family out to dinner.
What Mom left though surpasses any money I could have been left, and it was made evident in the final hours of her life. With her body shutting down and with Mom knowing she was seeing her final hours; she kept her hospital room filled with love and laughter. Her inimitable humor kept me, the nurses, and the doctors laughing.
In that setting, Mom expressed three words that ring in my ears today. She told me, “Never grow up.”
If you had followed Mom’s financial story, you might have thought it a tragic story. She went from living in an elegant home on the edges of Hollywood to a humble studio apartment that held all her material belongings.
While there had been financial disappointments and plenty of arguments around money with Dad, Mom kept looking forward, kept smiling, and kept making others laugh with the wit and wisdom of a precocious schoolgirl.
In the nearly six years since Mom’s passing, every time I see her photo, I remember the love and laughter she shared so generously even as her body faded away.
This weekend, I missed the opportunity to share her story once again and progress in the International Toastmasters Speech Competition. I have the opportunity every day, though, to enjoy my rich inheritance of love and laughter.
How do you see prosperity sooner? You appreciate the love and laughter in each moment as if it were your last.
Shine brightly!
Stef (xe/xem)
Golden Nuggets
Golden Word: increase from Latin increscere “to increase, to grow upon, grow over, swell, grow into,” from in- “in” + crescere “to grow” Example: Their small beginnings increased to impressive outcomes.
Golden Quote: If you approach the ocean with a cup, you can only take away a cupful; if you approach it with a bucket you can take away a bucketful. – Ramana Maharshi
Golden Speech: Getting stuck in the negatives (and how to get unstuck) (Full 10 m | Clip 20 s) Alison Ledgerwood, from the Department of Psychology at UC Davis, studies how people think and behave in social situations.
Golden Statistic: Every single win that you acknowledge, no matter how small, activates the reward centers of your brain. (Monday 8am)
Golden Term: Financial literacy includes the skills, knowledge, and tools necessary for people to make financial decisions and take action to attain their goals (U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy)
Golden Tip: If you do something every day, it’s a system. If you’re waiting to achieve it someday in the future, it’s a goal… One should have a system instead of a goal. (Scott Adams)
Golden Question: Besides dollars, how do you measure your increasing prosperity? For example, smiles.