For the 2014-07-23 meeting of the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL, I will give the inspirational thought and the theme of the meeting is “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” Here is what I came up with:

Fellow Toastmasters and guests, for tonight’s inspirational thought I will share two quotes and my thoughts.

Quote from Robert Heinlein, science fiction author (1907 – 1988):

“In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.”

Quote from Tony Robbins:

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”

My thoughts:

In the theme of not “sweating the small stuff,” it is important to regularly take a good hard look at your daily routine. Ask yourself—are your actions bringing you closer to who you want to be, or are they of no long-term consequence? Do you spend too much time reading the news? Do you spend too much time responding to mundane emails, texts, and Facebook posts? Do you spend too much time organizing things that really don’t need to be organized? Do you spend too much time helping friends, family, and strangers, while neglecting your own goals and projects? Practice saying “NO!” more often, and reclaim this time to pursue your true creative desires. Then, you might find yourself gaining confidence, respect, and momentum.

For the 2014-07-16 meeting of the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL, I was the table topics master and the theme was “Singing in the Rain.” Here is the introduction and topics I came up with:

The purpose of table topics is to help improve members’ extemporaneous speaking skills by giving them an opportunity to practice impromptu speaking on topics they do not have advance knowledge of.

1. Talk about a hurricane, snowstorm, or other bad weather that affected you. What was it like to go without electricity for several days? Did you have a lot of cleanup work to do after the storm?

2. Talk about a time when you’ve had a party or beach day rained out, OR talk about a day when you were worried it would rain but the storm passed over.

3. Have you ever kissed someone in the rain? Share your thoughts on how bad weather can be romantic.

4. Discuss how trying to use an umbrella can actually be counterproductive, especially over short distances where you have to extend and collapse the umbrella in the rain to avoid getting water in your car.

5. Have you or a friend or family member had any close calls with lightning? Share some tips to stay safe in a thunderstorm.

6. Do you sing in the shower? Why or why not?

7. Share some tips for hurricane preparedness or disaster preparedness in general. Feel free to include tips about cutting down dangerous tree branches and securing doors and windows.

I have started attending the Toastmasters club of Port Orange, FL, and was assigned to give the inspirational thought for the 2014-07-02 meeting. The theme was sunshine, so I found this quote from Thomas Jefferson on friendship, which is also fitting since Independence Day is coming up:

In a life where we are perpetually exposed to want & accident, yours is a wonderful proposition, to insulate ourselves, to retire from all aid, & to wrap ourselves in the mantle of self-sufficiency! For assuredly nobody will care for him who cares for nobody. But friendship is precious, not only in the shade but in the sunshine of life; & thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine.

October 12, 1786

This quote is from his “DIALOGUE BETWEEN MY HEAD & MY HEART” love letter to Maria Cosway, an Italian-English artist who was living in Paris at the time.

I had written these comments about the quote, but decided not to say them at the Toastmasters meeting:

Good friendships should be nurtured and developed, not only because they are mutually beneficial and supportive, but because they allow us to share and be vulnerable without fear of judgment or ridicule. We should especially endeavor to be true friends to our significant others and families.