The Joys of Chicken Dinner
At the 2023 Speaker Slam® Grand Slam, the Inspirational Speaking Finals held at CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Claudia Chan delivered “The Joys of Chicken Dinner”.
Transcript
I was sitting at the my desk waiting for the announcement my hands clamming my heart pounding the theme for the Grand Slam is Joy what my heart sank to my stomach wait I know isn't here as I searched for Joy I found memories of me pillow fighting and going to the beach with my husband and son I I am so proud of my achievements of being a speaker an author a life coach I found myself laughing and having a great time with my family and friends aren't these supposed to bring me joy and yet an emptiness spread through my chest and tears pour down my
face I couldn't find Joy H I knew that Joy is a choice but what does that even mean it was Saturday October 14th my six-year-old son really wanted chicken dinner but I didn't so I asked baby could we go for far inside tonight no I want it I need it my husband chimed in baby mommy never asked for what she wants let's go for far tonight and we can have chicken dinner tomorrow okay fine the next day he asked again Mama are we going for chicken dinner tonight oh I'm so sorry B but Daddy hurt his foot so we can't go but I want it
you promise will go how come you got to ha far last night why do I have to give it up my chest tightened like a hand gripped the inside and twisted it yeah why does he have to give it up so I brought him for chicken dinner that night and I watched as he got a table for two ordered his meal and enjoyed every single bite and in that moment I saw Joy on his face and it hit me joy is a choice not only do I have to declare what I want and fight for it I have to you feel it in the moment
watching my son enjoy his chicken dinner made me realize two things one I rarely ask for what I want and two when I set my sight on something I get so caught up fighting for it that I forget to savor the moment I didn't even tap into the joy how could I find it often times going after our dreams will make other people upset with us challenge us or even turn their backs on us to the point where we feel we have to give it up or we can't even enjoy it other times we may believe that going after our goal will bring us joy
so we become fixated on what else we need to do next and we forget to celebrate our wins has there been a moment in your life where you really wanted this thing so you worked for it far for it and when you got it you felt empty Joy is a choice and it can coexist with other feelings like right now no matter what happens tonight I get to feel Joy standing on this beautiful stage speaking to you because I love it or we could be heartbroken and disappointed that other people are not supporting our decisions and we can choose to feel Joy for going after
our dreams because we deserve it no matter what the circumstances or how other people respond to us joy is a feeling we can all choose and for me when I breathe in Joy feels light and happy and when I breathe out it feels grounding in the knowing that I have chosen what I want and I get to deliberately choose to feel every single moment what about you how does Joy feel like for you get to know this feeling because you get to Define it and choose it you get to choose Joy because we all deserve to live a life filled with joy yeah
Transcript generated from the recording and shown as captured, without added punctuation. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.
