Resiliencia el secreto de mi xito.
Transcriber: Jennifer Rojas
Reviewer: Amanda Zhu
I’m going to tell you
about the secret to my success.
And it is started with this right here.
Albert Einstein didn’t speak
until he was four,
and he didn’t talk
until he was aged seven.
He was considered mentally handicapped
by his family and also by his teachers.
Michael Jordan was cut
from his basketball team
because he wasn’t good enough.
You see?
Most of us think
we’re not good enough, right?
But what are we going to do about it?
Every one of us has faced
hardships in our life.
Am I right?
Every one of us has.
But the thing about life
is you got to go to your core
and make it happen.
I am Valéssa L. Taylor.
I am an American Air Force combat veteran.
I served my country 22 years
in United States Air Force.
Was it easy?
No.
You know what I did?
I kept my faith there.
Faith is what got me through “it.”
When I say “it,” it was a lot of things
that went on in my life.
And here’s what I’m going
to tell you about.
I lost my husband to suicide in 2003.
How was I going to deal with that?
Faith.
My daughter tried to do the same act.
Because what?
She was the apple of his eyes.
Now, my journey, as I told you,
has been a little bit on this side,
but I’m here to tell you
that I am a bold, powerful
and authentic person.
Why?
Because I know who I am.
Some of us don’t know who we are,
but that’s OK.
Because we’re all on a different journey.
What are we going to do about it?
We’re going to pack up, rock up and roll
and get the job done no matter what.
Now, here’s the next step on my journey.
My son, two months ago, almost died
walking down the street
and got hit by a car.
He was left for dead.
Guess what happened?
An innocent bystander came around
and redirected the traffic.
And guess what happened to him?
He got hit also.
Now, when he showed up at the hospital,
he was considered to be unknown.
So you already know
what that means, right?
But guess what?
My faith kept me strong.
Anybody that knows when they lose
a loved one to cancer,
to suicide and all of that,
well, guess what?
It’s never an easy journey, is it?
What I want you to do
is know that you have resilience in you.
Now, what is resilience?
Resilience is the backbone
to your adversity.
I’m going to say this again,
resilience is the backbone
to your adversity.
I want to touch each and every one
of your lives today
and let you know you are powerful.
You are real and you got this journey
on lockdown right now.
Give yourself a clap right now. (Claps)
(Applause) (Cheers)
Now, on this journey,
I am also here to let you know one thing.
My journey is about trauma and resilience.
I share my story to the world,
and I’m here to help you too.
Now, let me tell you
something about this journey.
As you know, I did 22 years
in the military.
But guess what I’m going to tell you?
If I ever get a chance
to speak to any one of you
and to be a mentor and
coach you and be your confidant,
I got you.
But also, what I am also going to do is
I’m going to ask you
those tough questions.
Are you suffering in silence?
So many of us are suffering in silence.
What are you going to do about it?
The first thing you’re going to do is
you need to look yourself in the mirror.
How many of you have
looked yourself in the mirror?
Some of you probably haven’t in a while.
Because you’re afraid of what’s in there.
You know what you’ve got to do?
How many of you have heard
of peeling back the layers of the onion?
When you’re peeling back
each layer of the onion,
that’s where you’re going to find out
who you truly are in your life.
Each layer is about
what you need to do in your life.
And you got to dove deep
to your core and figure it out.
Every story in here is real.
You know how I got through it all?
There’s somebody’s story that’s always,
always, always worse than mine.
When my son was diagnosed
with paranoid schizophrenia
I thought to myself,
How am I going to deal with that?
But you know what I did?
I went back.
I went back to my childhood.
My mother was a paranoid schizophrenic
and she raised me.
It was never easy.
But what I did know is she loved me
and she taught me how to become resilient.
Resilience is what it’s all about,
ladies and gentlemen.
Are you going to cry about something,
or think about all the people that have
gone through so much in their lives?
You see a lot of amputees out here.
Sometimes we talk about what we are going
to do the next day or the weekend.
But guess what?
Remember this:
There’s always, always
somebody’s story worse than yours.
Now, I’m going to talk
about my daughter for a moment.
I’m so proud of my daughter because …
my daughter has been through so much.
She tried to commit suicide eight times.
So on my journey, that was pretty hard
for a single parent.
But you know what I did?
I kept my faith and never gave up.
My son is diagnosed with bipolar
and paranoid schizophrenia.
But parents out there that have children
that suffer from a mental illness -
I love you.
You know why?
Because I know what it feels like
when they don’t take the medicine.
I know what it feels like
when they say that they’re not well
and they don’t want to take anything.
Well, let me tell you
something about life.
We have to still love
our children no matter what.
We still have to cheer for them.
I was raped at the age of 13.
And do you think that was not hard to do?
Tough pill to swallow.
But what I did, I went back to my core.
I started journaling out my pain to paper.
What is going to build you up
and carry you on the journey,
it starts with two things:
a pen and paper.
Now, on the journey of our walk -
pen, paper.
You’re going to talk
about your inner child, of growing up.
How many of you have not connected
with your inner child in a while?
Some of you may say, Well, what is that?
That is going back to what you used to be,
all that pain that
you suffered in silence.
It’s all about connecting with yourself.
I want you to do me a favor today.
I need you to reconnect with yourself.
I need you to look yourself in the mirror
and say, I am bold, I’m powerful,
I am handsome,
I am beautiful.
Speak those daily
affirmations in your life.
You’ve only got one shot at life,
And that’s to build yourself up
and be the person, people
you’ve always wanted to be in your life.
When I left my military career,
I knew I wanted to do something great
because at the age of seven years old,
I wanted to share my story to the world.
I wanted to transform lives.
Because I knew all the stuff
that I had gone trough,
I knew somebody was just like me
out there in the world.
Well, how did I do it?
I did it with being resilience.
I will never, ever, think
that anybody is less than me.
I always treat people
like they are the best thing ever.
You know why?
Because you never know
what that person is going through.
Every journey of our life is a witness
to show you who you are,
When you get on your knees at night,
thank whoever you want to thank
that you’re still breathing,
you’re still alive,
you’re still well.
Every day I’m going to challenge
each and every one of you
to say something positive to someone,
whether it be a smile,
whether it be a “Thank you,”
“I appreciate you.”
People need to hear the words of kindness.
If we can’t do nothing else
to show love to people,
donate some time.
That it’s all about.
On this walk in our journey,
I have met a lot of people in this world,
but you know what I do notice?
A lot of people are suffering in silence.
And all they need is someone to trust them
and guide them where they need to go.
On this walk on my journey,
I had two strong women
that I looked up to.
And that was my mother
and it was my grandmother.
And they lay the foundation.
And I’m grateful
because I’m every bit of them
and more.
They’re no longer with me.
But I tell you one thing.
On this walk in your journey,
you may not understand what I’m saying.
But you should know that I’m giving you
some powerful love today.
I want you to know it from my heart,
that people need everyone
in this world to survive.
I want to thank each
and every one of you guys
for coming out today to TEDxCoatzacoalcos.
It’s very important
to show the support.
This is my dream
that I’ve always wanted to do.
But most importantly,
it’s about taking care of people
and transforming those lives.
Every one of you guys
are an icon of power,
power to be whatever you wanted
to be in your life.
Whatever you dreamed of,
you can make it happen.
It’s all about giving it what you have.
I told you today
my journey is about resilience.
The secret to my success
is being unstoppable,
not giving up
but also knowing that any person
that I come in contact with,
I’m going to transform lives.
That’s it.
I’m dropping the mic.
(Applause)