Show up for yourself/ Invest in yourself

Hello everybody what were you all doing this weekend?

You all did something but show up for the international speech contest. You got to miss out on 2 winners! Don't worry, I forgive you. But it got me thinking. I really want to be here, that's why I am here.

In high school I performed many times and I would look out into the audience and guess what? my mom was never there. I hated that. What made it worse is that my best friend she had both of her parents would show up and not only that, but they would record the whole thing! And in case you are wondering, yes we won that competition too. And what for? We were in a high school Steppers team.

In life, sometimes you have to show up for yourself. and the biggest sign of maturity is to be okay if people do not show up for you. You have to ask yourself, how bad do I want it?  You see Michael Jordan had to show up to all his practices to become the best. and Oprah had to show up for all those interviews in her show. and Mariah Carey had to sing her songs millions of times in live performances. Even in Toastmasters, when we get to tell our stories, it's after the fact: they have already happened. 

So I want to ask you today, what are you showing up for? Why are you here today? If you are anything like me, I am a massive supporter. I was the best friend you could ever have. why? because I show up for people. Yes, and I feel incredible guilt if I don't. Another thing is, I don't have to know you long to show up for you. Its just the way I am built. What has been interesting when I moved out of my hometown is that there are no more commitments to people that I have to honor. It feels great that I don't have any parties that I am expected to go to, because they will say now 'where's Auris? She's in Georgia!' and they'll move on with their lives. I had that best friend, the same one that her parents show up to all the competitions, she actually took my absence of a party to mean that and I quote: Auris doesn't care.

And you are right, I cared more about fulfilling the needs of my son and my own household that day than to go to a party. and that's all right. Sometimes when you show up for yourself, you are disappointing someone else. It's still worth it. But I don't want you to just show up for yourself, what I would like for your to do is invest in yourself. What does that mean?

That means spend some money in increasing a skill or fulfilling a dream or desire you have had for a long time. For my friend, it meant finally buying that plane ticket to Paris. For me, it was finding a Toastmaster club and finally getting to finish up my speeches. Jim Rohn had a saying, how far can you go? How much can you grow? Don't you want to find out?

So, as you may or may not know, our Toastmaster dues are due. We have an opportunity to show up for ourselves and our public speaking goals as well as recommit and don't waste any more time. After this speech, get ready, reach out to Quiana and renew your dues. Your future self will thank you. and remember, show up for yourself, invest in yourself. You are worth it.