by Joseph Olalekan Adenuga
Sometime
ago we listened to our delectable and very inspiring TM Mobolaji Adenubi as she gave her ice
breaker, she made a profound statement that will not leave me in a hurry, she
said “All life is about movement”; indulge me to add to this statement today using
the words of Ellen Glasgow that “All change is not growth, as all movement is
not forward”.
Growth is
very essential to life and indeed there is a vast difference between growing up
and growing old. But that is a talk for another day. There is no vacuum in
life, you are either growing or you are deteriorating. First time experiences
are sets of events, circumstance, people etc that we encounter for the very
first time. It is highly correlated to growth because it has the potential of
changing our skills, our capacity, our profiles, our story and even our
history. These experiences can transform us from who we used to be to who we eventually
become afterwards.
I have
watched my daughters grow from babies to infants and to being toddlers and now
you may refer to them as children as it were; but the excitement of seeing them
take their first step is remarkable, regrettably though I only saw that of my
first daughter. And gradually as they grow they feel their way through life. If
you observe closely at children growing up, you would notice that almost
everything catches their attention, from dropping of spoons, closing of doors,
toilet flushing, turning-on the TV to even PHCN holding and releasing the power
at will or the mosquitoes that crave for some taste of their unadulterated
blood. These events are seemingly new to them and they love to engage in order
to understand it better.
New
experiences have a way of registering itself in our brain, activating some of our
cells making some of our organs to suddenly become conscious of something that they
have usually ignored. Learning how to ride a bicycle for instance, improves
some of the organs for better balance; it develops some parts of the brain. The
same goes for learning how to drive, it will initially secrete several hormones
in the body until the body gets used to it and after a while it becomes a
routine and almost a reflex action. Speaking for the first time in Toastmasters
you bet is indeed a worthwhile experience; one thing I can guarantee you is
that, every opportunity you have to speak is a different challenge entirely,
all first time experiences.
All these
experiences do not leave us the same way; they in fact transform us from who we
were into who we eventually become after the process. Indeed a conscious effort
to growth can be exhilarating but also rewarding.
As adults
in this room I dare to ask, when last did you have a first time experience?
When was the last time you met someone for the first time, or take a route for
the first time, or deliberately going to a place for the first time? Thanks to
toastmasters, we would have the privilege of some of these first time
experiences, nevertheless, I challenge you today, to be more deliberate about
your first time experiences, go to new places, learn a new dance step, try out
a new food, if you can swim, learn how to drive, if you can drive, learn how to
sail, go sky-diving, skiing and the likes. The most important thing is that you
take deliberate effort in your first time experiences and watch yourself blossom
as you grow.
(An award winning Toastmasters Speech)
(An award winning Toastmasters Speech)
