Life Quote
of the Day:
“You only lose what you cling to.” Buddha
“One of the happiest moments in life is
when you find the courage to let go what you can’t change.”
“Sometimes the things we can’t change end
up changing us.”
“You never know how strong you are until
being strong is the only thing you have.”
~~~
By, Cassandra George Sturges
He couldn’t breathe. My brother was
laughing so hard that he had to literally be carried out of the facility after
I lost the beauty contest. My mother invited all of her best friends and
co-workers from the GM plant, as well as, all of our closest neighbors were
there to watch me trip and lose my shoe on stage, stumble to the microphone and
screech my rehearsed greeting to the crowd, “Good evening, Welcome to LeNauote’s
, my name is Cassandra George.”
Instead of clapping, everyone held their
ears because of the loud sharp noise from the microphone, followed by my heavy
breathing. How I made it, back stage, into my parent’s car, and into my bed
that night is still a blur. Whenever I hear Chaka Khan’s song, “Ain’t Nobody” (the
song that played as I attempted to walk across the stage) haunting images of
this nightmare flash in my mind.
A few days later, I received a phone call
stating that I had ranked in the top 20 contestants, which qualified me to
compete in the next beauty contest. My
mother said, “I don’t think I can take the embarrassment and the stress of you
losing again, especially in front of my co-workers.”
Everyone refused to come and support me in
the next beauty contest, except my sweet neighbor across the street and the one
brother who was not laughing hysterically at my previous loss.
I knew in my heart that I was never going
to participate in another beauty contest, but I felt the need at least to face
my fear of utter humiliation and shame in front of a crowd. In a way, I was happy
that no one was going to watch me lose another beauty contest. I just wanted to
close this chapter in my life.
The other beauty contestants and I were
practicing walking across stage, before the doors opened to the public. After
practice, I walked over to my brother and my neighbor to see how they were
holding up before the show. My brother said to me, “Bay, there is no way you
are going to win tonight-- these are some bad ass White girls.”
I was the only Black girl in the contest. I
looked at the beautiful girls and told my brother that I agreed with him, I
didn’t have a chance. My brother’s words stunned me into the reality that since
I was not going to win there was no need to cover up the surgery scar on my
knee, or worry about how I looked to the judges—I should focus on one thing—having
fun.
I sashayed my Black ass across that stage
without a care in the world. I flirted with the judges, growled at the audience,
and pretended that I was in my mother’s basement all alone strutting from one
end to the other. I completely let go of the notion of winning. I let go of my
inhibitions, being shy, or trying to please people with the right answers.
I accepted the fact that I could never
change my dark skin, my full lips, and my cankles (thick legs without ankles). I
completely let go of caring what anyone thought of me.
The announcers called my number, 17,
several times before I realized that I had won the beauty contest. I was
completely zoned out. My brother ran on stage and picked me up, and ran back
and forth across the stage saying, “Bay, you won, you won.”
The beauty contest sash in my mother’s attic
reads “Ms. September”
My ego let go and my soul took over. I
realized that night that I was mentally strong. There is something freeing
about letting go and releasing the need to control the outcome of any
situation.
Life
Quotes Practical Application
1. Letting go is not giving up. It’s gearing up for
something better. When I let go of the desire to win, I redefined what winning
meant to me. Winning to me was having fun, and expressing my true personality.
2.
You don’t need to be perfect, you need to be persistent.
Who cares if you win or lose, what matters is Not how you play the game per se; but whether or not you are having
Fun and Enjoying playing the game.
3. Mental strength
is the cornerstone of authentic beauty. How you see others is how the world
will ultimately see you. I didn’t feel like I was going to “lose” anything
because I acknowledged and admired the beauty of the other contestants. Looking
back, I think that if I had had a negative attitude or criticized the other
girls, I would not have won. I would have been too busy trying to beat them as
opposed to allowing my inner goddess the opportunity to come out and play.
He couldn’t breathe. My brother was laughing so hard that he had to literally be carried out of the facility after I lost the beauty contest. My mother invited all of her best friends and co-workers from the GM plant, as well as, all of our closest neighbors were there to watch me trip and lose my shoe on stage, stumble to the microphone and screech my rehearsed greeting to the crowd, “Good evening, Welcome to LeNauote’s , my name is Cassandra George.” … Instead of clapping, everyone held their ears because of the loud sharp noise from the microphone, followed by my heavy breathing.
Links to other Life Quote of the Day Columns
~~~
Quotes Translator, Weekly Column by, Cassandra George
Sturges discusses Inspirational quotes, motivational quotes, famous quotes,
quote of the day, positive quotes, life quotes, Quotes about life, life
lessons, and relationship quotes and their applications to your life.
~~~
Check out my Authentik Beauty Handmade Doll
Crafts Free DIYs & Tutorials on my YouTube Channel
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