Thank You, Next! (contest piece)

  

One taught me love
One taught me patience
And one taught me pain
Now, I'm so amazing

Thank you, next..

 

Friends, fellow Toastmasters, can you think of a time when life tried to beat you down? Did you stay down? Or did you learn from that challenge,  thanked it, and got ready for the next? Ariana Grande's song “Thank You Next” reminds us to learn from challenges as they can transform us from downtrodden to amazing.  

 

I remember my first rush of intense, heart throbbing love when I was a young girl of 17. I met this guy who made me buy 300 peso load daily so we can text till the wee hours of the morning! It was exciting, it was exhilarating, it was EXPENSIVE! Especially for a college girl who had a very limited budget. I painstakingly ate ngohiong everyday to save up for load, coz hey I’d rather get hungry than lose him. Coz I was giddy. I was in love. Until I saw him one day, with another girl, holding her hand. Friends, believe me when I say that when a person sweeps you off your feet, he’s in the perfect position to drop you on your butt! I fell hard on my butt and found it so hard to get up. But  I did. And from that heartache I learned that to love another completely , you have got to love yourself first.  So thank you, asshole, I mean heartache, for teaching me love... Next! And the next man became the man I am now about to celebrate 20 years of love with!  

 

When I got the news that I failed the Bar Exams, I locked myself up and cried my heart out. But after a week of sulking, I decided that failing the Bar does not  make me a failure but giving up on the dream is only the sure way to fail. So I looked back and realized I was a mess on my first try. I cramped everything I could read. I was too eager and in a rush that I forgot to listen to what my body needed. I hardly went out, forgot to rest and ended up always crying because I was too stressed! So thank you failure, for teaching me to be patient with myself and teaching me to understand my limits, next! And on my next try, I was more organized, had my rest days, took time to drink and unwind,  I jogged for my mental and physical health, oh you should have seen me that time, I was so sexy then, well I’d like to think that I still am sexy now. A year later, I got the news that I finally passed the bar and with good grades at that! Failing the 1st time does not make me any less of a lawyer. In fact, failing the first time and fighting my way back to get the dream speaks more of me than that failure, and I now I work for two of Cebu’s best lawyers, Hi DTMs Dodong and Nolie, how about an increase in my allowance? 

 

I thought my first heartache and failure were painful, but I never knew pain until I lost my first child. I had always dreamt of being a mom so knowing I was pregnant was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life, but it turned out to be one of the most heartbreaking ever. I had an ectopic pregnancy. It was a pain so hard and  which took so long  for me to heal from. What made it even more difficult was it was also coupled with a raging desire to conceive again. For  years, I went to fertility doctors, took medicines, we made love round the clock, oh just kidding. Is that even possible? But thank you, miscarriage for teaching me pain. A pain that broke me and rebuilt me into the mother I am today... After years of trying and crying, and just when I was already at peace with the possibility that I would never be a mom, I got pregnant with my rainbow baby, my miracle, Trystyn Thaddeus. And if you let him speak, I’m sure he would attest that has the best mom in the world. So thank you pregnancy loss, next…BABY! Oh please not another baby, but perhaps next challenge to learn from. 

 

 

Friends, fellow Toastmasters, when things do not go your way, remember that every challenge, every adversity, contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.If we learn from these challenges, if we take their lessons, we will always emerge stronger and better.

 

When life knocks you down... don't stay there! Don't let yourself get knocked out cold by life's punches. As difficult as it may seem, thank these challenges and use them as opportunities for self-improvement. Before we know it, we’re stronger, better, and have transformed from downtrodden to amazing!

 

So because of all those heartaches, setbacks, and pains…

I've got so much love 
Got so much patience 
I've learned from the pain 
I turned out amazing So 

Thank you, next