MountainWings A MountainWings Moment
#1276 Wings Over The Mountains of Life



30 Seconds
========

In business I remember the flops, the failures, the plans that
didn't work, the embarrassing moments, as lessons of life.

My first speech was in fifth grade at a recital. The auditorium
was full of parents and teachers. I was the only student who
the teacher did not have a copy of their speech.

Why?

Because I knew mine so well, the teacher hadn't bothered to keep
a copy, she knew that I wouldn't mess up.

Halfway through the speech, my mind went blank.

Absolutely blank!

I remember looking at the audience, at the principle on the
front row, at my parents. . .

I remember the teacher vainly trying to remember my next line
and prompt me. For a full 30 seconds (although it seemed like
30 minutes) I just stood there. Feeling naked. . .

I eventually remembered my next line and finished flawlessly.
I've never forgotten those 30 seconds in fifth grade.

I've never forgotten, but I've never gone blank in a speech
since either. I've had instances where my speech was
unavailable. In one instance, I was the keynote speaker at a
function. When I got to the podium the spotlights were so
bright, they cast a dark shadow over the podium and I couldn't
read a word on the paper that contained my speech.

I continued on without the audience knowing anything was wrong.

I was keynote speaker at a banquet; when I got to the podium,
I realized that I had left my speech under my chair.

I continued on without the audience knowing anything was wrong.

I was able to continue on because I remembered "30 seconds" in
the fifth grade. I remembered to not just stand there blank.
Do something, say something, but don't just stand there blank.

Both speeches turned out fine because of those embarrassing 30
seconds of feeling naked and what I learned from it.
It was one of the shortest, but toughest, lessons of my life.

No matter how embarrassing, how painful, how much the "I would
rather be anywhere but here" feeling is, it is a lesson to be
learned, whether it is 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or 30 years.

Learn the lesson well, and you won't have to repeat it.


~A MountainWings Original~

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