You are on the brink of success, be it personally or your club/ area/ division. How much fun have you had in the process?

I recently attended a contest where the Table Topics question was “What advice would you give your 10 year old self?” In the 1 minute of reflection, as one Contest Chairman put it, while the judges were completing their ballots, I took time to reflect on many aspects of my life and what I would do differently if I had another chance. My thoughts were influenced by the ideas that the various Table Topics speakers shared and one of the speakers triggered a thought on if I had a second chance in my Toastmasters journey, what would I do differently?

I approach many of the things that I do very seriously and that is not a problem at all for me. However, every time I take time to reflect on my past approaches to certain things, I laugh at myself for having taken certain things that seriously. This happens to me time all the time – there are certain things I believe today need to be done with a certain level of seriousness that in the next 2 years I will look back on today and laugh at myself for having been too serious about them.

If I had an opportunity to restart my Toastmasters journey and do things differently, I would definitely take things less seriously. This doesn’t mean lacking commitment as this is must in our Promise but, avoiding sweating the small stuff and celebrating more the small wins that contribute to our mission as an organisation.

Dr. Ralph Smedley, the founder of Toastmasters believed that if it’s not fun then it isn’t Toastmasters. You are on the brink of success, be it personally or your club/ area/ division. I would like to challenge you to reflect on your success and identify the moments you had fun as the pinnacle of success in Toastmasters awaits those who have shared happy memories with their fellow members.

Frank Tsuro DTM

District Director