A Stormy Saturday

I’m still trying to adjust to Saturday evenings without Toastmasters. It still feels a little empty, that slot of time between 5pm and 7pm. I also keep getting bombarded with their weekly invites, which I’m thinking of unsubscribing to as well (with all due respect). I need to find something else to do, and with this weather, there isn't much happening…

I remembered when I was a kid back in Ottawa, Mum used to take my brother and I to the public library on a weekly basis, where we’d spend hours picking out books, reading, and checking books out to read at home. Even till this day, throw me in any library or bookshop and I could spend the entire day there going through books, a little book worm I was!

Then, it suddenly hit me that thanks to the Safadi Cultural Center, we've actually got a public library here in Tripoli, the Al Mouna Library. And without a second thought, I grabbed my umbrella and I drove right over! Registration is simple; all you need to bring is a copy of your ID, a passport size picture of yourself, and LBP 45,000 (which is valid for 12 months), and you’re good to go! And mind you, for a public library in Tripoli, it’s pretty amazing with a good selection of books, magazines, computers, comfy couches, and reading areas…

I headed over straight to the section on Photography and Digital Imaging, and I was quite impressed with the selection of books that they had. If I could, I would have checked them all out, but I decided to take it two at a time and went for a beginner’s book called “Digital Photography” and another called “The Complete Guide to Digital Imaging” to refresh and up my skills in Photoshop and the like. Actually, I have a confession to make; I don’t know how to use Photoshop. In fact I don’t even know the first thing about Photoshop! :-$ So how do I play with pictures? I use Paint, MS Office Picture Manager, and other simple websites:-P HOWEVER! I’m adding “Photoshop” to my list of New Year’s resolutions for 2011. But that’s a different post for a different day… ;-)

Till then, I’m going to leave you with the picture of the storm, which began to escalate on the drive home from the Library:

Toastmasters National Table Topics Competition

We had our 2nd Annual Toastmasters National Table Topics Competition last Saturday, which was held in Auditorium A, in AUB…

The Top 3 Winners from the previously held Local Table Topics Competition were competing against each other (3 Winners From 3 Toastmasters Clubs in Lebanon: Speakers & Leaders, LoudSpeakers, and ProToast)

Hiba and Mohammad were both Table Topics Masters, and both prepared great questions. Even today, three days after the event, Mohammad’s question is still stuck in my head:

“To realize the greatness in oneself is the first step to achieve success. Knowing your strongest assets, identifying your flaws and working to improve them are crucial in reaching your full potential. What makes You a Great person?”

How would I have answered a question like that?

I’ll post a follow up as soon as I can think of a good answer…

LOUDSPEAKERS:

Hajj Nabil

I’ve been meaning to write this post since last Saturday afternoon, right after Toastmasters, but I went out with a couple of friends and came home late, and I got a little busy over the weekend. But the idea never left me and I said I’d make it a point to write about it, so here it goes:

Three days ago at Toastmasters, I had the most important role of the meeting: The Toastmaster. But I have a little confession to make. See while I usually prepare for my roles at Toastmasters, this time I didn’t, not because of lack of time, and not because of lack of interest, but plainly because I didn’t feel a need to. I’ve played the role of Toastmaster a countless number of times in the past and I think the main parts of the role have somehow become a part of me. So the rest I improvised, and while doing so, I actually gave one of my most enthusiastic performances as a Toastmaster. And I’ll admit it, I felt smug…

So as I was sitting there near the end of the meeting, feeling quite full of myself and waiting for Jana to finish giving the General Evaluation section, I drifted off and noticed someone sitting behind a television screen at the far end of the room. He caught me by surprise at first, but as I looked closer, I noticed it was Hajj Nabil, the BAU Alumni Association receptionist…

This man is incredible. He’s in his (I’d guess) late 60s, he arrives at the association early and leaves late on Saturday afternoons just to keep it open for us, every time we walk in he greets us with a warm welcome, he always offers to help us in setting up the room, physically helps us move the lectern and tables around, helps us set up the projector and screen, all you have to do is call his name…

And he’s so respectful, he was quietly just sitting there, watching an old television series with the volume muted as not to disturb us. And he was the one to bring my then haughty attitude back down to earth…

And as Jana mumbled on about evaluations, I blurred out everything else and smiled at him, the man who makes things happen. God Bless You, Hajj Nabil! :-)

Best Evaluator!

I didn’t want to take a Toastmasters role this week, especially not after I’d bought Nonzy and was planning on dedicating all my free time to figuring out how to take the most awesome of pictures with him. But last Wednsday, DialaK SMSed me:

“Noura, for the sake of public speaking in our life and the afterlife, u r eval of either diala or sally. We r all taken. Mwa”

And when DialaK sends me a message like that, there’s nothing much I can do about it. So, I dejectedly drove over to Toastmasters this afternoon, ready to be an evaluator, which is usually one of my most dreaded roles...

But it actually turned out to be a pretty good meeting. MayaS was the Toastmaster. She hasn’t been a Toastmaster in quite a while and I could tell that she had put a lot of effort in preparing for the role. Sally and DialaA both delivered their 4th speeches, both of them coincidently on the same topic: Chocolate! Then, Fouad the Table Topics Master gave a session about communication and its importance in our lives. And finally, DialaK was the General Evaluator who, as usual, was up to par, followed by MayaB as Sally’s evaluator and me as DialaA’s evaluator. Also, Mohamad, the newest member, took on the role of Timer for the first time and I (being his mentor) was quite proud of him, he did a great job! And of course there was Amro, the Ah-Counter…

But I’ve got to admit, the best part of meeting came at the end, with the announcement of the best Speakers and Evaluators! Why? Cause I won! It’s a simple red ribbon that reads BEST EVALUATOR but it somehow got me to wholeheartedly smile… Toastmasters, how do you always keep me coming back for more?

Toastmasters Demonstration Meeting

TM

What Is The Key To Happy Relationships?

That was my question at Table Topics today. What is the key to happy relationships?

I stood up, looked down at the table, and resisted the urge to say: “honesty”, or “loyalty”, or “trust”. Nah, because I knew it was something else…

And then, it hit me: LOVE. Love is the key to happy relationships. Why? I don’t know. Or at least I didn’t know how to explain it. After I sat down 15 seconds later, I wrote my question down on a piece of paper and promised myself to tackle it when I got home later that evening. So here we go…

Relationships. What is a relationship? In my world, it’s a relation or a connection you have with another. It could be with your family, your friends, or your lover. Relationships don’t have to be good, they could be bad. I think you have a relationship with everyone. Like your colleagues at work, the doorman, even the guy who pumps benzene at the gas station. I have a happy relationship with them all, but it’s not based on love. So now that I think about it, maybe love wasn’t the answer. I was stumped. So, I Googled it. And Google gave me the cliché: Good Communication and Trust. But no, I was still convinced that there was another word I was looking for.

And then it came to me: ACCEPTANCE. (To Be Continued)