Bloom like no one is watching
— My speech script of the speech contest Toastmasters International District 12. I won 2nd place in the Area C1 contest. It’s adapted from my previous blogger “The Girl in the Cheerleader’s Outfit”. What a wild ride over the past three weeks, making the scripts, contacting clubs to give guest speeches, tweak, one-to-one brainstorm with mentors and coaches, and tweak again. There is never a final script. This is it after giving the contest speech this morning, Feb. 27. So proud of myself!
December 2019, my wife’s church sisters brought her a little wild rose planted in a steel pot. The rose had six or so flowers, small but vibrant. My wife watered and watched them every day, but still, they started to wilt in a couple of days. One day we found the rose had lost all its flowers and leaves, the twigs turned black. Sadly, my wife took out the rose and planted it in the backyard with the grass. She said, “Let’s leave it here. If it dies, we just get rid of it with the weeds. But maybe one day it will come back.” Well, it was hardly higher than the grass, almost unnoticeable. Soon we forgot about it.
Almost two months past. One day my wife rushed into the room and shouted, “Look, look! The little rose is blooming.” We went out. Over the thick green grass, two tiny pink flowers sprouted with incredible strength. My wife came up and talked to the rose, like talking to a dear friend. She said, “Sorry, we have forgotten you. But look at you, you little wild rose. Even the whole world has forgotten you, you just bloom, bloom like no one is watching.”
She was so excited. I totally got her feeling. Summer 2017, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer stage IV, she was like the wild rose, thrown to a forgotten land. The doctor said, “It’s a common cancer in the country. She’s got about six months.” But we decided to take an adventure. Helped by our friends, we flew to the US in two weeks. They helped us find the hospital and medicine. Soon the cancer stopped growing. 2021, my wife has been in remission for more than three years. Well, it was a tough battle by all means. But even in 2020 when the pandemic hit us all so bad, she smiled every day. She told me, “No, no. No one steals my joy, my happy time, because I never forget that every single day is a gift to me.”
Dear friends, when you don’t forget yourself, who can steal your joy, your happy time? Do you need a remission or a survived rose to find your joy? Of course not! Look, a relaxing Saturday morning, a zoom meeting connecting you and your friend, that would be enough.
Or, a box of fried chicken. As matter of fact, the picture of life coming out of the forgotten land really reminded me of a fried chicken story.
Early 2019, I was a Uber driver. One day I picked up a girl from a restaurant. Once she got into my car, I saw tears in her eyes. Soon she started to cry. Then I heard her story. She was a high school girl and lived with her grandma. Her part-time job at the restaurant was the only income to the family, though the restaurant often delayed the paychecks. Well, life was never easy for the little family. One day they needed money urgently. The girl called the restaurant manager asking to collect a paycheck which was already overdue. Luckily, the manager agreed. The next day she finished school and came to the restaurant to pick up the check. But to her shock, the manager just forgot to bring the check. She cried, begged, and finally walked out without a check. To comfort her, the manager gave her a box of fried chicken.
For a moment, the girl stopped and looked at the fried chicken. She asked me, “Can I eat it right here in your car, please? I can’t wait. I just love fried chicken.”
I said, “Well, if it makes you happy, go for it.”
Then， in a few minutes, the tearful face turned into a big smile. While driving, I was telling myself, look at you, you little girl. Even the manager has forgotten you, but with the fried chicken, you have forgotten the whole world.
Dear friends, 2020 has made us more forgotten lands than ever. The Covid, the quarantine, the lockdown, we never feel more forgotten. But my wife, the wild rose, the high school girl, they are all telling one truth, that is, no one steals your joy, your happy time, unless you let go yourself. Are you feeling forgotten now, my dear friends? Whether it’s a Covid crisis or just a low moment of the day. Well, it’s always a tough battle out there. I can’t tell you how to win the fight. But I can tell you this, let us bloom like the wild rose, bloom like no one is watching.
