So, we are having a presentation on Monday. It is gonna be the last assignment for this English class. Yay! Next week is also the last week of this short semester. We then have our exams followed by our semester break until September the 3rd. I'm really excited right now since I only have 1 exam for Bahasa Malayu on Tuesday of the following week and my flight is on the same day at 7pm. I know it is kind of rush, but I can't wait to see my beloved ones... It means I'm home in 12 days :D
Anyway, back to the topic, my presentation is about being thankful (developed from the first entry of this blog). I'll post the completed speech after the presentation, so stay tuned.
Whenever I prepare for a presentation of any kind, it always sounds better in my head, it makes sense when I read it, but when I present, it just goes wild. :)) I guess I need to be extra serious this time and practice a couple of times to get the best of me... All the best to everyone!
Here you go! This is the draft for my speech...
Good morning Ladies and
Gentlemen. It’s such a pleasure being here and talking to you today. I was just
wondering if you had ever imagined that one day, you could wake up and all
could have gone, the people you loved and the things you had. And if that terrible
thing ever happened, would there be anything that you wanted to tell them, or
to do for them? Would it be too late? We typically wait until the end of a
person’s life to give a eulogy, to say nice things about someone. But why wait?
Why not start now—when the words can have its most impact? The topic I would
like to bring up to day is being thankful. I will divide my talk into three
parts: first I will start with the
effect of being ungrateful, and continue on with why we should be grateful and finish
up with how to be grateful.
Being thankful is to show our
gratitude and appreciation. However, in the fast pace of life, people seem to
be busy looking for what they don’t have or get more of what they already have.
People tend to overlook what they do on their hands. This unappreciative
attitude seems to cause no problem at all, but it actually has a big effect on
people around us and our outlook toward the world. Take family as an example,
we cannot have an supportive and close knit family if we take one another for
granted, ie don’t appreciate one another. Parents spend too much time for work,
so their kids wouldn’t receive adequate support and care from them. While the
children are too busy growing up, they often forget that their parents also
growing old. We can’t sustain relationships with others if there is a lack of
appreciation.
Furthermore, not realizing how
lucky we are also creates a negative attitude towards life. Instead of enjoying
their blessings, people keep complaining about mundane stuff while there are
many others are going through worse hardships. There are plenty of simply
things in our life which millions of people out there have always been wishing
for. For example, we are able to go to school! Lots of us including me often
procrastinate on studying. Well, many people do not have the opportunity to go
to school at all. Others complain about the food while tons of people are
starving. As in North Korea the kids over there go to bed hungry every night.
Being unthankful make us become pessimistic with a negative outlook towards the
world or greedy, keep asking for more.
I move on to by talking about
why we should be thankful. Like most children, I was taught to say: "thank
you" frequently and giving thanks become a life habit. But I was taught
not simply to say thanks, but to feel it. I believe that thankful people are
happy people.
Since they have the ability to always find some reason to be "much obliged"
no matter what the situation is. There is a story about an old woman dying and
her friends didn’t understand why she has her hand folded in prayer. They
wondered what she could give thanks for at a time like this. As if reading
their mind, she opened her eyes and gazed at the loving faces around her bed.
Then, shutting her eyes again, she said quietly, “Much obliged, Lord, for such
fine friends.”
This
wise woman taught her friends a secret that many people have never learned: she
taught them how to be happy.
Being thankful also give us an
ability to sympathize with people in need, since we know how blessed are, we
will be more willing to help others. Those acts speak of more than
thankfulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting
and friends showing friendship, and how much it means to others. They might not
always say thanks. But they'll remember the hand that reaches out.
So
how to be thankful? Don't take things for granted. Love your family and
friends. “Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look
forward to? Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the
opportunity to learn. Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you
valuable lessons. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to
be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.”
Appreciate all the things and
people you have because you never know, one day, you might wake up and ALL
could have GONE! Treasure the simplest things and savour every moment in life!
Being thankful not only show our appreciation to others but also create a
positive perspective of life for us. So yeah, we might not have all that I
want, but we do have all I need and really, it's good enough. At least, we are living,
breathing and our hunger is satisfied. Meister Eckhart-a German philosopher stressed
the power of being thankful: “If the
only prayer you ever say in your life is thank you, it will be enough”
