Welcome back and Happy New Year!
The year 2020 is indeed a turbulent and full of unexpected curve balls. It is a New Year season. A season of resolution, goal settings, KPIs, targets of the year. We will set OUR personal goals for ourselves: Be it getting more money, land on better job, lose some weight (this is so classic), better reputation, better public image or even getting another better boyfriend or girlfriend.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, we should make goals for ourselves. According to the Invisible Hand Theory by Adam Smith, father of free will economist, wealth does not live in a vacuum and that people acting in their own self-interest will eventually act in the best interests of the greater public good. When our life improves, so will the lives of others around us. Yet, I felt it is incomplete. The theory somehow centered around human basic needs but ignores one part of very important human psychology needs: The need to feel fulfilled in their life. And that need to be fulfilled in our life is the essence of our theme tonight: Bloom with Grace.
I would like to propose another item for you to consider in your resolution: How can you help human race? How can you help human species progress? This question sounds cliché, and the same time, so grandeur in the view of evolution beyond our life time, yet it is the very survival of our species.
Humans are social animals. Our survivability is dependent on how we form community, cultures. What is community? What is culture? It is a group of people of common set of values and beliefs. What is a club? It is a group of people with common set of values and beliefs. What is Toastmasters community? It is Where Leaders Are Made: Integrity, Excellence, Service and Respect. What is Friendship Toastmasters Club: It is Friend Helping Friends to Succeed: Friendly, Fun, Safe and Discipline.
When we surrounded by people believe in what we believe, something remarkable happened. Trust emerges. When we are surrounded by people we trust, we are more willing to take risks, we are more willing to experiment despite potential failure. We are more willing go to places we never explore before, with the confidence, if we fail, if we tripped over, if we turned our backs, that those within our community and those who trust us will look after us, will pick us up when we fall over, will help us when we are hurt. That is the very reason Toastmasters can exist for the past 96 years. That is the very reason why this vessel of Friendship can survive the past 3 major economic crises since 1999, and still have new members, despite globally, the Toastmasters membership dropped by one third, because we believe in what we believe in: Friends helping friends to succeed; Where leaders are made.
The world we live in is always about me, me, me. How can I be a millionaire in 5 steps? How can I get the career that I want in 7 steps? How can I look better in the eyes of others using 3 secret amulets? What are the 5 untold tricks, picking up lines that I can use to flirt with the girl for one-night stand? Me, me, me.
I would like to propose alternative questions. Instead of coming from me, me me perspective, how about asking: What can I do to help the guy next to me? What are the 5 steps that I can do to help the person next to me so that he can find his dream job? What are the 7 steps you can follow to help someone to lose some weight and regain his health? How can we help our friend so that they can find a soulmate for life? How can I help others to gain confidence in life?
You can be happy because you make the things work, you can be excited because you have big success in work. Do you know how we can find fulfilment? Do you know how to feel fulfil at work, at home, at community? It is when you do something for someone else and expecting nothing in return, in the spirit of generosity. It is the only way we get that feeling of fulfilment. It is this sense of fulfillment will drive us to Bloom With Grace. By helping the person next to you, you will Bloom With Grace.
My question to you is: What are you doing to help the person next to you?
By the authority of Toastmasters International vested in me, mandate given by club members as President, driven by the desire to Bloom With Grace, I hereby declare our meeting officially starts
Photo by Tavga K.S on Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/FU_RhpNEbxU
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