Article #86 : The Art of Gratitude

How many of you experienced bad situations in life? Did anyone come to your rescue during such tough times? If yes, did you try to express your gratitude either by your words or actions? 

Well, let me share with you my story today that showcases how to express your gratitude and why it is important to master the art of gratitude.

It was October 2024, the day of my Humorous and Evaluation Speech Area Contest. I was much excited to be part of the contest and eagerly waiting for my turn. I gave my best in the Humorous Speech Contest and felt so good on noticing the reactions from the audience. Even during the break time after the contest, there were close to 15 members from the audience who came to me and appreciated my speech. Some of them even took my contact as they wanted me to be their mentor. I was overwhelmed with happiness because my speech hit the right chords. But then the unexpected thing happened. The results were announced and I was declared as the second runner up of the Humorous Speech Contest. 

Initially, it hit my confidence because after completing a pathway along with it's electives and giving more than 25 speeches, I could easily judge the speeches in any contest. On that day, I could definitely say that my speech was a better one than others. At the same time, I gracefully accept that I had a scope for improvement in my evaluation. While I was in the process of losing my confidence in the first minute, whatever happened in the next minute hit the reality. I could see some people cheering up for the winner even before the winner's name was announced and almost all the judges were part of that cheer leaders group. Obviously, it suggests that the bias or match fixing indeed happened because the judges already know their winner personally and it was not the first experience of it's kind for me. A part of me came out and started talking

"Giridhar, What's cooking? Do you really deserve this experience again?"

"Of course, not. But what to do? Whatever the judges decide is the final thing right?"

"But don't you think they have to follow one of the core values of Toastmasters here? Integrity? As they keep preaching about it everywhere? Don't you think members who complete their Level 2 in pathways program are supposed to be the judges? You invested your time, money and energy here. Is this what you get in return?"

"Maybe you are right. I think it's better that I stay away from these kinds of things next time"

It was a bad, disappointing and an excruciating experience for me as I was judged not based on my skill, but based on my personal rapport with the judges. I am sure even Mr. Ralph C. Smedley would have never wanted any of his Toastmasters to have this sort of experience when he created this learning platform. 

Then, guess who came to my rescue! It was my home club, the members who were present in the contest. They tried to uplift my confidence and reminded me on how powerful I am as a humorous speaker. They simply said, "For us and even for the audience, you are the winner". The Integrity that was missing at the area level, was something that I could find at my club level. 

One question popped up in my mind, "What can I give back to this club that stood by me during that bad phase?" I felt since most of the members were new, the club was lagging in the PR and me, as an experienced Toastmaster, should pay back to the club in the form of a good PR.

I prepared a script for a small skit and named it as Toastmasters Laughter Therapy Session. With the help of 2-3 members from our club, we went to different zones and conducted 10 laughter therapy sessions that were also inline with one of our organization's initiatives. We received a positive response and a round of applause everywhere. As the first step, we were able to pull 200 members to our guest group who showed interest in knowing about Toastmasters and our club. Apparently, it resulted in the growth of our club's membership and strengthened our family. 

Experiencing bad situations is part and parcel of our lives. But remembering the people or a fraternity that stood by you is important and even more important is expressing your gratitude either by your words or actions because as the great quote by Kristin Armstrong, an olympic gold medalist says, "When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in." What do you say?