Mr. Toastmaster, fellow Toastmaster and my dear friends, before I start my speech, I put this question to you all. What, according to you, is our greatest mental strength? What is the most powerful thing a human mind can have?
Well, you may opine for other things. But to me, it’s hope. Hope is not just a four letter word. It’s like a horse having four strong muscular and powerful legs namely H, O, P and E. And we have to ride this horse in order to chase our dreams. Don’t trust me? Well, I will tell you three short stories, nothing else, just three stories.
The first story is an anecdote from the life of the legendary king of Scotland, Robert Bruce. He was an extremely generous king and one of the most famous warriors of his time. He was the pioneer of Scotland’s freedom from the English rule. But success, as you all know, doesn’t come easy. In his early life, he was defeated by the enemies and was driven away from his kingdom. While he was on the run during the winter of 1305 AD, Bruce hid himself in a cave in Ireland. There he observed a spider spinning a web, trying to make a connection from one area of the cave's roof to another. Each time the spider failed, it simply started all over again until it succeeded to make the cobweb. Inspired by this, Bruce returned to inflict a series of defeats on the English, thus winning him more supporters and eventually the victory.
The second story is from a 1994 Hollywood movie. It was 1947. Andy, an innocent banker, was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, based on strong circumstantial evidences. He and his close friend in Jail would dream about spending happier times out of the prison. But repeated trials for parole ended in fiascos. And while his friend was under stark pessimism, he kept on hoping against hopes. He uttered to himself, “Fear can hold you prisoner; hope can set you free.” And he kept on doing; something which nobody knew what, not even his friend had any idea about it. But one day, his cell in the prison was empty. He used a few inches long tiny old rock hammer and spent sleepless nights year after years, to make the way out. And he crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness one can't even imagine. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields. But the other end of the drain is what the return on his audacious optimism can be.
Now, the third one is not actually a story or a movie. It’s very much a real life incident. It was the year 1940. In the United States of America, a baby girl was born; prematurely; weighing only 4.5 lbs. Life was like deep darkness to her as she caught infantile paralysis. She was pathetically sorry not being able to walk or play like her other 19 siblings. But her mother was unperturbed; she tried a lot to make things better for her child. She was recovering with time. But there were more things to come. At the time of recovery she was wearing a brace on her left leg and foot which, as a result, got twisted. But just this was not the limit of all worries. Murphy’s Law is sometimes so inevitable. She got scarlet fever, whooping cough, chicken pox, measles, and pneumonia twice. But was it the end of her story? Did she die like just another diseased girl? No, not at all, my dear friends. Her mother was rich in hopes and she kept on trying to cure her child’s problems. And then the baby girl grew up fighting with all the antagonistic power, and at the age of 20 she emerged as a powerful sprinter who proved her mettle by winning 100 meters Gold, 200 meters Gold, and 4x100 meters relay Gold in the 1960 Rome Olympics. She was Wilma Glodean Rudolph.
Now leave the whole world, and let me tell you about my own self. Every time I give a speech as a Toastmaster, I feel, I am not doing it up to the mark. But the hope to do well again, the hope to improve my skills, and the hope to excel in near future is what keeps me attending the Toastmasters’ meeting again and again. And I wish Toastmasters always stays a harbinger of hope to me and to many speakers and leaders of this world.
Hope is like a heeling balm to the ailing people of the aching earth. Hope is a ray of light that does disperse the darkness of despair. Hope is the panacea of this strife torn world. And the best way to testify ‘Hope’ is to conclude with this quote that was there in my all time favorite movie,
“Hope is a good thing and may be the best of things and no good thing ever dies!”
Thank you.
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