As I was browsing the internet, I came across a blog post by Tara Pringle Jefferson. Her site is called “The Young Mommy Life“. In her post she mentioned her younger sister who is in her twenties and just finished college. She has high aspirations to make a positive impact on the community and make a decent living. However, although she has a degree she is stuck working part-time, dead-end and low paying jobs.
Tara gave her sister the same pep talks people keep giving me. They include “keep your head up”, “be patient” and “life is more than a paycheck.” Although it sounds good, her sister and I have the same reaction. We don’t really want to hear that. Instead, we are looking for quick, visible results. I’d tell people about my four year degree and that I didn’t mind washing dishes, I just wasn’t going to be Al Bundy.
Tara did give her sister some advice that I liked. Her advice is, “When I’m stressed about something, I tell myself that this is simply the opening line of my acceptance speech one day in the future when I’m on stage being given an award for my contributions to the world of media.” Taking that advice, I would say my opening line of my speech would be, “I realize sometimes going backwards is the only way to go forward.” As I thought about it more, I came up with more.
Or here are some others:
- “Nothing in my life was straightforward and easy. Of course, my post-prison life was going to be challenging.”
- “I’ve always said there was going to be a backwards way for me to get ahead. My life once again proved that.”
- “Maybe it was just proof I had to come up with a more creative way to get what I wanted. And damn if it wasn’t worth.”
- “As much as I hated the struggle, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Now that I’m done thinking of my acceptance speech opening lines, I have to remember that setbacks are a part of life just as much as moving forward is. If something stresses me out, I have remedies such as medication and journaling to get me through it. I also remind myself of my time in prison camp and how I turned that into an advantage. I have more freedoms here than in prison camp and that means I have more freedom to change my life than I had in prison camp. Though I understand how hard life can be, there’s no excuse to allow myself to be a failure or give up because everyone struggles, but he best of us overcome it. I believe overcoming my problems is what will make me the best I can be.
Now to get ready for my speeches.