Friends, Enabling the Future, Together
On a hot morning of a late summer day in 1988, my fellow passengers and I boarded a plane in southeast Texas. The flight started as any normal flight might. As we settled into our seats, the pilot's voice came over the public address system. He said in his Texas draw, "Folks, please relax. We will be flying a mite further down range than planned. That hurricane over the Gulf is spawning some mighty rough weather to the west." As we continued on, we could feel a force pushing us back into our seats. This force gradually built up to 2 times that of gravity. Suddenly, in the next 30 seconds, that plane fell 35,000 feet. |
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What would have gone through your mind? What have you have done if
you were a passenger on that flight in August 1988? Naturally,
I did what every other passenger did on that plane that day.
I unbuckled my seat belt and went about the business of the day.
You see, fellow Toastmasters, I was a passenger on the NASA Vomit
Comet. This is a converted Air Force KC-135 tanker that is
outfitted for flying microgravity experiments. Our plane was
flying the parabolic path that briefly simulates the weightlessness
of space. We had been trained ahead of time on what to expect
on our flight.
Think back to when joined Toastmasters. As you began preparing
your Ice Breaker speech, perhaps you thought of some of
the things that might go wrong, the hurricanes and thunderstorms
that might be brewing , when it was your time to speak in front
of your Club for the first time. However, your mentor had been
working with you for this day. You remembered what he had told
you, "Remember, every one in the Club, your audience, is
behind you. They want you to succeed." As you spoke, the
storms vanished. You soon realized that everyone there was your
friend.
In his book The Littlest Prince, Saint Euxpery wrote,
"Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it."
Toastmasters has a strong system for building communication and
leadership skills that starts with the individual member in each
Toastmaster Club. It is not our task to create a new system,
but to enable the Toastmaster organization to work for us.
The strength of Toastmasters is the dedication of each of
our members. First of all, we are friends to ourselves. We realize
that by giving our best in each of our meeting roles - whether
speaker, evaluator, Toastmaster or another support role - we
are learning by practicing new skills. We know that each of our
fellow Toastmasters who are likewise true to themselves are providing
us the support that we need to improve and grow. In doing so,
we are building relationships and becoming friends to each other.
Friends are "there" for each other. Even when
it is impossible to be physically there for us, our friends give
their support by finding another to fulfill their assigned roles.
As friends we willing fill in for each other, even as speaker
with shorter notice than we usually would like to have.
The truly dynamic Clubs have learned to manage chaos. They
become strong through flexibility in scheduling and the willingness
of each member to participate. For them, and the same can be
for your Club, Toastmasters is friends, enabling the future,
together. It is a better future, a Toastmaster future filled
with building improved communicators and leaders.
Arnie Grot, DTM
1997-1998 District 53 Governor |
