Gardening 101
This was the 5th speech I delivered at my Toastmasters Club, last night 08 March 2006. :)
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"Gardening 101"
When was the last time you received flowers? Maybe it was your birthday, or during your anniversary, or when you were sick and you got a ‘get well soon” bouquet, or “just because”! Or maybe you even got a bouquet last Valentine’s Day! Florists sure made a killing last V-day!
The guys probably couldn’t relate since I would think it’s rare for a guy to receive flowers. So as a message to the women here – maybe you should consider giving flowers to the men in your lives- your Dad, spouse, boyfriend… you know, just so they can relate! And maybe this will motivate them to give you flowers more often as well…(wink)
I HAVE always enjoyed receiving flowers. What woman doesn’t? Even if it’s from someone I like “just a little”… I still get kinda flustered, and flattered, and have this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Admit it! Who here doesn’t want to receive a big bunch of beautiful, long stemmed, fragrant, flowers?! It doesn’t really matter what type of flowers, but between us girls, roses and tulips are the best.
And then I started thinking “WHY”? Why do I enjoy receiving flowers? I realized, it’s not the act of receiving flowers I enjoy, but the feeling I get whenever I receive flowers. Other females canrelate to the giddy, warm, fuzzy feeling you get whenever you receive flowers whether it’s a single stem or a whole bunch.
Since I love feeling this way, I began to think, what can I do so that I can feel this way anytime I want? Come to think of it, why should I wait for someone to give ME flowers, when I can plant my own garden?
So what did I come up with? What are things that I do, that gives me the same feeling, as if I received a big bouquet of wonderful, aromatic, flowers? For me, there are three things …
The first one is to SHARE
Share your blessings, your time, your money… Like in our case, our high school class is celebrating our “eherm” reunion next year so as early as now, we’ve thought of starting a fund-raising project to benefit the indigent students enrolled in our beloved alma mater… PUPLHS. This early, we’re collecting pledges, and have started planning how we want to share our blessings with our school and its current batch of students.
To share doesn’t have to be something so GRAND, as long as you’re sharing or giving from your heart. Let me cite another example. A friend of mine, Arnie, will celebrate her birthday soon. In the past, she lamented that she would spend thousands of pesos to treat her friends to a dance club, and get drunk! But this year, she wanted to do something different, and meaningful. And what did she come up with? Slippers! Yes, something so mundane and simple, BUT she’s giving these away to a depressed community near where she lives. She came up with this idea because each time she passes this area, she sees these little kids 3 or 4 years old, running in the streets, without slippers. And her heart went out to them. So instead of spending her money on a grand party, she bought slippers, all shapes and sizes, and got her friends involved as well by asking for pledges. So instead of giving her gifts, her friends were asked to give new slippers to be given away. Isn’t that so nice? I’m sure the feeling she gets when she gives away those slippers, will be like receiving a whole, big bunch of her favourite flowers! And that will surely make up hundredfold for her not having a party.
The second…is to CARE
To care means to look after, mind, minister, mother, nurse, nurture, protect, provide for… And do this for someone (or some thing) outside of ourselves. Of course we all care about our family and loved ones. And we’re there for them. Like for a friend who’s down in the dumps, why not treat her to coffee and lend her a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen. What else can we do? We can adopt a pet, or buy a plant! When you see how your pet dog values you, how your pet is so happy to see you when you get home, doesn’t THAT feel good? Or when a plant blossoms and blooms under your care, that also feels good! RIGHT?
The last and certainly not the least, is to DARE
DARE? Dare what? Dare to do something different! Something that you’ve always thought of doing but never really got a chance to do! I remember back in high school, I didn’t dabble in any kind of sports because I was afraid to get hurt! If there’s something I mastered then, it was the art of running.. running away from the basketball, or the volleyball. So you can imagine, when my friend invited me to join her for kickboxing, I was like, “NO WAY”?!?!? BUT when I finally got around to trying it, doing those jab-straight punches, and roundhouse kicks, I was HOOKED! Who would have thought?! Daring to do something different doesn’t have to be something extra-ordinary! Like you don’t have to go bungee-jumping (unless you really want to! ;-> ) or dabble in extreme sports! It can be doing something simple, like driving to work using a different route. Or maybe instead of ordering your usual green tea frapuccino, order instead that double shot espresso machiatto with raspberry syrup!
So to recap, there are three things that I can do to get this wonderful feeling I so enjoy. And you can do these too! That is, to SHARE, to CARE and to DARE. To do all these is always in season. Think of it, whenever you need a “pick me up” there’s no need to wait for someone to give you flowers, when you can plant and cultivate your own garden. :) Good evening!
======================
"Gardening 101"
When was the last time you received flowers? Maybe it was your birthday, or during your anniversary, or when you were sick and you got a ‘get well soon” bouquet, or “just because”! Or maybe you even got a bouquet last Valentine’s Day! Florists sure made a killing last V-day!
The guys probably couldn’t relate since I would think it’s rare for a guy to receive flowers. So as a message to the women here – maybe you should consider giving flowers to the men in your lives- your Dad, spouse, boyfriend… you know, just so they can relate! And maybe this will motivate them to give you flowers more often as well…(wink)
I HAVE always enjoyed receiving flowers. What woman doesn’t? Even if it’s from someone I like “just a little”… I still get kinda flustered, and flattered, and have this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Admit it! Who here doesn’t want to receive a big bunch of beautiful, long stemmed, fragrant, flowers?! It doesn’t really matter what type of flowers, but between us girls, roses and tulips are the best.
And then I started thinking “WHY”? Why do I enjoy receiving flowers? I realized, it’s not the act of receiving flowers I enjoy, but the feeling I get whenever I receive flowers. Other females canrelate to the giddy, warm, fuzzy feeling you get whenever you receive flowers whether it’s a single stem or a whole bunch.
Since I love feeling this way, I began to think, what can I do so that I can feel this way anytime I want? Come to think of it, why should I wait for someone to give ME flowers, when I can plant my own garden?
So what did I come up with? What are things that I do, that gives me the same feeling, as if I received a big bouquet of wonderful, aromatic, flowers? For me, there are three things …
The first one is to SHARE
Share your blessings, your time, your money… Like in our case, our high school class is celebrating our “eherm” reunion next year so as early as now, we’ve thought of starting a fund-raising project to benefit the indigent students enrolled in our beloved alma mater… PUPLHS. This early, we’re collecting pledges, and have started planning how we want to share our blessings with our school and its current batch of students.
To share doesn’t have to be something so GRAND, as long as you’re sharing or giving from your heart. Let me cite another example. A friend of mine, Arnie, will celebrate her birthday soon. In the past, she lamented that she would spend thousands of pesos to treat her friends to a dance club, and get drunk! But this year, she wanted to do something different, and meaningful. And what did she come up with? Slippers! Yes, something so mundane and simple, BUT she’s giving these away to a depressed community near where she lives. She came up with this idea because each time she passes this area, she sees these little kids 3 or 4 years old, running in the streets, without slippers. And her heart went out to them. So instead of spending her money on a grand party, she bought slippers, all shapes and sizes, and got her friends involved as well by asking for pledges. So instead of giving her gifts, her friends were asked to give new slippers to be given away. Isn’t that so nice? I’m sure the feeling she gets when she gives away those slippers, will be like receiving a whole, big bunch of her favourite flowers! And that will surely make up hundredfold for her not having a party.
The second…is to CARE
To care means to look after, mind, minister, mother, nurse, nurture, protect, provide for… And do this for someone (or some thing) outside of ourselves. Of course we all care about our family and loved ones. And we’re there for them. Like for a friend who’s down in the dumps, why not treat her to coffee and lend her a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen. What else can we do? We can adopt a pet, or buy a plant! When you see how your pet dog values you, how your pet is so happy to see you when you get home, doesn’t THAT feel good? Or when a plant blossoms and blooms under your care, that also feels good! RIGHT?
The last and certainly not the least, is to DARE
DARE? Dare what? Dare to do something different! Something that you’ve always thought of doing but never really got a chance to do! I remember back in high school, I didn’t dabble in any kind of sports because I was afraid to get hurt! If there’s something I mastered then, it was the art of running.. running away from the basketball, or the volleyball. So you can imagine, when my friend invited me to join her for kickboxing, I was like, “NO WAY”?!?!? BUT when I finally got around to trying it, doing those jab-straight punches, and roundhouse kicks, I was HOOKED! Who would have thought?! Daring to do something different doesn’t have to be something extra-ordinary! Like you don’t have to go bungee-jumping (unless you really want to! ;-> ) or dabble in extreme sports! It can be doing something simple, like driving to work using a different route. Or maybe instead of ordering your usual green tea frapuccino, order instead that double shot espresso machiatto with raspberry syrup!
So to recap, there are three things that I can do to get this wonderful feeling I so enjoy. And you can do these too! That is, to SHARE, to CARE and to DARE. To do all these is always in season. Think of it, whenever you need a “pick me up” there’s no need to wait for someone to give you flowers, when you can plant and cultivate your own garden. :) Good evening!
posted by shy @ 11:38 PM
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