I am a Distinguished Toastmaster and I enjoy writing speeches. On my blog I will be sharing some of the speeches I have written.
“All You Need Is Time” is a true story, but it didn’t happen to me. A friend shared her story with me and I put it in this speech.
Here it is:
When I was a young girl, I was taught the example of the good angel on one shoulder and the bad devil on the other. Were you ever taught that?

Had you been there 30 years ago you would have thought, she has lost her mind. You see, I was in a battle with my mind. I was very depressed, and while looking out of a seventh floor window I heard the good and the bad. My mother was just an arms length away. She didn’t know what was going on in my mind. The devil was saying jump, the angel was saying step back. I heard jump, step back, jump, step back. I felt her touch as she pulled me back and said, “All you need is time”. I still remember that time of my life, years ago, after graduating from High School, my first love and I decided to get married. When I told my mother, she said, this is not the right time. You are too young to get married, you can’t even cook! We got married anyway, we were in love, well, at least I was.

Less than two years later he filed for divorce. Totally unexpected, he just decided he didn’t want to be married anymore. Still loved me, but didn’t want to be married. I was shocked. I cried for days, I thought my heart stopped beating, but I was still alive. My mother had to stay close to me, she was really worried about what I might do. I wasn’t acting normal, I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping. She tried to comfort me by saying, “all you need is time”. I can still remember how she held me and whispered in my ear, “Time heals all wounds”. You are still a young woman, “This too shall pass”. And she was right; I got over it, as soon as I found a boyfriend! I was fine:-)  I went on with my life, never looked back, and have been happy ever since. I realized that until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Time is on your side. Don’t ruin your life with hasty decisions based on what’s happening to you now. Remember, as long as you have breath in your body, you have time.

My mother passed away a year ago. She was well loved and we had many visitors come to pay their respect. While sitting with some of our guests, I noticed my sister staring and giving me a weird look, but I couldn’t figure out why. I finally got up and took her to another room and asked what’s wrong? She started to answer, but then stared beyond me. I turned, one of the guests had followed us, I asked him, is there something you need, can I help you? I saw something familiar in his eyes and little pieces of my life flashed before me. He said, “You don’t know who I am, do you? I haven’t changed that much have I? My mother’s favorite phrase was “All you need is time” and if ever I understood it’s meaning it was on that day. Thirty years ago I stood at that window and considered ending my life because of this man, and now, I don’t even recognize him. Imagine, if my mother had not been there for me, I would have missed having this wonderful life. All you need is time. Think about it, how many times have you done something and later said, “If I had just waited”. No matter what the problem is, no matter what the situation may be, it applies, have you considered that “All you need is time”? Say it with me, “All you need is time”.

I loved my mother and I miss her very much. Now when I have a tough decision to make, and I have the angel giving good advice and the devil giving bad advice, there is a third voice, my mother saying wait, “All you need is time”, and you have all the time you need.