|
Opening
Do you remember your last KTV outing? There’s always that someone who sings along your FAVORITE SONG. And, destroys it FOREVER!
Pretty Woman, walking down the street. Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet Pretty woman.
What are you doin’ doin’ doin’? Hey hey hey. Pretty good, huh, huh, huh?
Let’s do another song. It’s called…singing lessons.
Contest Chair. Fellow Toastmasters and anyone who dares to sing outside the shower.
There’s a dare devil in all of us. It happens when a crazy idea jumps into our brains. Your logic says “It’s risky.” but your pride says “Just do it!” Sounds like a Table Topics master. But, how many times do our instincts lead us into trouble? How many times do we crash and burn, and end up feeling blue? Body Point 1
Back in high school, my friends planned a ski trip to Sunshine Mountain. Now, I didn’t know how to ski. But, my pride said “Just do it!”.
Now, you should know that when you ski, there are three levels: Green, blue, and black. Guess which level I did?
Green? Thanks a lot. Yah, I did green. It’s the easiest level. At the top of the green. I closed my eyes, tucked my poles, and, shhh!!!! Yeah, easy as pie!!
Problem was I wasn’t with my friends. They were zooming down the higher and steeper slopes, blue and black.
Shh!! “Hey Anson, enjoy skiing with the babies?” “Hey, man! I’m coming
up with you guys on the blue run! Babies, shhh, I WAS JUST WARMING UP.”
[3:00] Point 2 - The Blue
So, we got on the chairlift. MMM... Ok. So, this is blue, huh? What? Another one? MMM…OK! Whoa, this is pretty high for blue!
Another? MMM… [pant pant pant] My hands touched the clouds. The hotel
was a piece of Lego. Trees like toothpicks. Skiers like little ants.
And, my heart, jumped out of my chest…when I got on the first chairlift.
[4:00] Point 3 - The Fall
You, you guys go first. I’m going to take it REAL slow.
Shh!! The snow started going sideways (wind sound). The wind started to deform my face. And, time started to slow down!
I zoomed past my friends! Shhh!!! “ANSON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” What are you doing up there?
I was headed straight towards these bumps. I hit the first bump. BOOM! I was punched in the face by my own knees! I hit the second bump. BOOM! Aaaaaaaa …
CRASH!!…[5:00]
My friends rushed to the rescue! Shh!!! “Anson! That was awesome, dude! Whoa!! I’ve NEVER seen so much ski equipment scattered across the mountain like that before!”
On the outside, I was okay. But on the inside, I was feeling blue. And, as I picked up my equipment and my dignity, I saw my friends. Sh! Sh! Sh! They never went over any bumps. They went around them. And then, it hit me. [6:00]
Conclusion summarize
When things are smooth like on the green run, I can hit them straight
on. But, when things get tough like on the blue run, you can’t go on
instincts. You have to plan your way around the bumps. And, life is full
of bumps, right? the “WHY”
Bumps at work when you’re overworked and underpaid. Bumps at home when you’re not being heard. Bumps when the honeymoon is over, and if my wife asks I’m just talking about Toastmasters. Toastmasters.
Sunshine Mountain taught me to embrace blue. Blue doesn’t mean being sad. It’s is about making a plan, avoiding the bumps and enjoying the ride. So, what are you waiting for?
So, let’s all be blue! Because it even inspired me to take singing lessons.
So, when you’re doing blue, all you have to do, is go “shu shu shu”,
then you’re not so blue…shhh!!!… |