Humorist Speech Contest - Taking Chances

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    At the first mention of the upcoming Humorist Speech Contest and a call for volunteers, I felt myself look away as if to put a wall up between those words and myself. Without consideration, I sidestepped the request. Weeks passed, more requests for volunteers were made, but I ignored them all thinking I would be in the audience watching the poor schmuck attempting to entertain me. But, the joke was on me. As it turned out, I would be the schmuck attempting to entertain. A month before the club contest, I received a request from Chandra, our club President, to which I wrote an email declining the appeal. Before I sent that email I remembered Mark Twain's words, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” It's the reason I joined Toastmasters. There is only one way to overcome fear and that is to confront it.

    I felt the butterflies in my stomach as I accepted the request. I was now competing in the Humorist Speech Contest. I expected my venture to begin and end there. To my surprise, I made it to the area level and then the district level. With each speech I gave I was acutely aware of how right Mark Twain is. Having courage does not mean the absence of fear. It is about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Fear was present each and every time. Never late, in fact, sometimes it was early. But, if there is anything that I learned, it is that I always pull through unscathed and intact. Although, it is always nice to receive an award you can display on your mantle, it is even better when you learn what it truly takes to overcome fear.

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic." --Unknown