There was drama of the highest OOPS! factor during the 2015 Miss Universe pageant with Miss Columbia being first tapped, then untapped as the winner, and Steve Harvey becoming the biggest blunder man on the planet.
Aunty used to watch these pageants in the past, but stopped watching decades ago. It happened after an episode in which each contestant was asked the same question. Each of them took a breath, breezed through their answers, were greeted with applause and cheers as they smiled, waved and glided back to their places in line.
The contestants were all beautiful, poised and had the same fixed smiles on their perfect faces. If based on looks in their gowns or bathing suits, each of them was qualified to be the winner. The revealing of their quality of thinking was in the question and answer portion of the competition.
That year, the question that was asked to each of them was, “If you could have anything that you wanted for yourself, what would it be?”
Without fail, every one of them answered perfectly. “World peace.”
It drove Aunty batty. You see, it wasn’t that their answer was wrong. It was that they did not listen to the question being asked, and instead gave an answer that was incomplete, lacking thought, and impersonal.
A destination
That simple sounding question is one that requires a lot of soul searching, and complete honesty. The answer is one asking for our individual selfish desires – if you could have anything that you wanted for yourself.
It is one that can be broken down into different timelines – today, this week, this month, this year, the next 5 years, a lifetime.
It can cover one or several categories – food, health, wealth, happiness, status, relationships, living arrangements, career choices, etc.
It is a question asking about your dreams and goals, your aspirations, your destiny.
Quiet place, deep thoughts
It is not a spur of the moment question for beauty queens vying for the Miss Universe title. If they were completely honest and paid attention to what was being asked, each of their answers would be, “To win the crown.” An answer that might paint them as shallow shells of beauty, but at least they were telling the truth.
It was a question that haunted Aunty for a long time (during her pre-Aunty days). What if Aunty were put on the spot, and the winner got what they wanted.
This was before Aunty started going to investment seminars, self improvement courses, subscriptions to newsletters, or picking up books on life skills, success, etc. The first task required from those gurus, authors, and mentors is to identify and define your goals in order to design your life’s roadmap to a targeted destination.
“If I could have anything I wanted for myself, what would it be?”
Aunty Batty
Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Sort of like Betty but just a smidgeon off.
One day, out of nowhere, the answer to that irritatingly haunting question came, like a bat (heh heh, sorry) from who knows where. It is wildly unrealistic and improbable, it has been frustratingly non-existent in my hands during trying times, the ramifications of it may be troubling, but still, it is Aunty Batty’s answer. Final answer and still holding true.
It would be to have the touch of healing.
Amen
What about you? If you could have anything you wanted for yourself, what would it be?
All answers are acceptable, crowns included.