Toastmaster

I begin to start a new thing every month now. On October I moved to a house with my best friend Shen - indeed, it is a house, not an appartment. This month's highlight is joining Toastmaster. It is a club to practice public speaking, where one could give a speech and be evaluated professionally by other member(s).

Although I have not had a chance to give the first speech aka. ice breaker speech, I got a good impression about the club. Some speeches are motivating and inspiring, e.g. today by Alex. He told a vivid tale from Afghanistan called:

The Lion and The Pond

There was a lion, living in a jungle. He was thirsty and would like to drink the water from the still pond. But as he peeked over the pond, he saw another lion, a big and strong one. So due to surprise, he went back and cancelled his intention. But then he decided to come back to the pond because of his thirst and he thought if he roared and showed the opponent his teeth, he could scare him and chase him away. But of course the other lion also did the same. At the end he got really thirsty and decided what ever happen, he will just drink from the pond, maybe the other lion would let him in peace. As he dodged his head into the water, there was nothing but the fresh water.

Moral of the story:
1. Often the enemy lays WITHIN oneself, in the fear, laziness, etc.
2. Often the problem that you see is an ILLUSION, there is no problem if you manage to see it from different perspective. Or if there is any, it will go away as soon as you take ACTION.