Refill After Spill

Greetings Happy People,

At some moments in our lives, we take many spills. Some spills are small, others are big. When we encounter these spills, we have choices on how to handle them. We can either cry over it, wonder what happened, or just give up. While these are normally negative reactions for some people, we can also respond a different way to our spills.

How you ask?

For every spill we go through in life, we can do our best to refill our cups and just move on.

Why am I telling you Happy People this advice? What is the motivation behind this? It happened five years ago.

Back then, I was an Area Governor for a five Toastmasters clubs in the Las Vegas Valley. I was governor for one club that had 21 members. This club was President’s Distinguished for two years in a row. They had some amazing people and were pretty successful. I thought that I had nothing to worry about this club, until the October dues renewals happened. Within an instant, that club went from 21 members to 9 members. OUCH!! Thanks to this experience, I coined the phrase “The Speed Bump Test.”

Why the Speed Bump Test? Have you ever driven on a shopping center parking lot? Some of these parking lots have huge bumps on the road known as speed bumps. The intent of the speed bump is for cars to slow down. If one were to not notice a speed bump, one can not only damage a vehicle, but also spill the drink while driving.

The spill I had was the members in that club. Had I seen the speed bump beforehand, I would have been more vigilant and prepared. Luckily that club did not dissolve. Instead, it took them a couple of years to rebuild and they are now a pretty healthy club. After the spill, they refilled. After that spill, I refilled.

No matter what you go through in life, we do have those spills we face. It could be physically, mentally, financially, or romantically. Before we go through these spills, we must be prepared for them the best way we know how. If one is able to go through the speed bumps without any spills, one can be considered lucky. If one takes a spill after hitting a speed bump, fear not Happy People!! For whatever spills we go through, we can always refill them and just move on.

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I