Moving On to the Next Level

We spent most of the afternoon at Grossmont Community College. Today was the day Jason had to compete again for the Regional level of the Optimist Oratorical Contest. This elimination round left three girls and three boys to "get into the ring" and battle it out again in a couple of weeks. Jason was fortunate enough to be one of the chosen.

This is already the third round so I have heard so many variations of "For Me Optimism Is". Just to prove that I was paying attention, I am sharing some of the quotes that were mentioned in the speeches.

Winston Churchill was the most popular.

• “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
• "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
• "I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else."

Mahatma Gandhi came in second with two quotes:

• "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
• "You must be the change you want to see in the world. "

Stephen Hawking:

• When one's expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.”

Even Walt Disney came into the mix. One of the contestants said that for her optimism means Hakuna Matata. It is Swahili for "No Worries" or loosely "Don't Worry" or very loosely "Chill". One quoted from Kung Fu Panda: "You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There's a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

I was very much impressed by the quality of the speeches from the girls, they seem to be just naturally better at expressing themselves than the boys. Jason is very lucky he does not have to go up against any of them :-)