ToastMasters P4 Speech

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How my work-life balance got affected
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So, finally I am here in Toastmasters meet standing in front of you all to give my P4 speech. It brings such an immense pleasure to me, I cannot describe. I had been on an exotic vacation to India's most beautiful state - Kerala in February end. I must say I returned quite rejuvenated. It was a trip that I'll cherish forever in my life. And finally one of my dreams of ride on a houseboat to experience serenity of the pristine backwaters of Kerala got fulfilled. I knew the fact that after I join office; I’ll get busy for a couple of weeks. Hence, I had planned to take a break from Toastmasters for some weeks. But I was absolutely unsure these 2-3 weeks will get elongated to 2-3 months. The more I tried to get things in place, the more it got delayed. It reminds me of one article by Robin Sharma that says sometimes no matter how hard you try, things just don't work out. It is this time that you should realize may be the timing is not right, and you should stop taking things so seriously. And there was also this beautiful quote by Robin "Do your BEST, and let your life do the REST"
But in my case, the problem was when I started taking things lightly; my manager started taking things seriously which left me no option but to get back on my toes.
I remember some Wednesday mornings; I used to get a ping from Vijay asking me if I would be keen in taking up some role. Yes, I was always interested in participating, but my work didn't permit me to spare even one and a half hour on Wednesdays. And believe me, it was not easy for me to mention that I won't be joining Toastmaster's meet. After couple of weeks, even Vijay gave up and ceased from asking me for roles :) Ever week, I kept wondering when I will see a mail from TMD, mentioning nomination of P4 Speech by me. At times it felt scary; I started getting negative thoughts like what if I go for giving P4 and go totally blank and all I could remember was arduous tasks of my pending project. What if I just couldn't come up with a topic, what if I don't get clear, accurate and descriptive words to prepare speech as is the objective of P4. Phew!! I had to overcome these negative thoughts. I made myself realize that it's all in the mind. I made myself realize "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve". Last week, I finally convinced myself to at least finalize the topic for P4. And it was that day I realized, that "Law of Attraction" really works. I went through a speech where a toastmaster described the fact that he was a 3-speech toastmaster and how he just couldn't come up with one more speech. It was time I made myself realize, enough of being negative. I have to believe in myself and I will very soon deliver my P4 speech. Yesterday I met Lavina. And we started discussing about our day-to-day activities and how active we both are in Toastmasters. I described my situation to her and it was then that she suggested - why don't you just write on what you've been through in last 2-3 months. I felt it was a very good idea; so apt and yet so interesting. And trust me; it was not so hard preparing this speech.
There were also times when I couldn't respond to my parent's calls. I remember calls from my mom with all excitement in her voice saying 'Hi Beta, how are you?' and all I could respond was and that too in a stern voice 'Mom, I am very busy now to talk, I'll call you tomorrow' and it was so painful to notice the change in tone of my mother on hearing my response. I had started reading a book titled 'Immortals of Meluha'. It's a very famous book by author 'Amish', I am sure many of you must have heard about it. I had to leave this book mid-way. It just lay on side table of my bed. I started feeling so guilty whenever my eyesight felt on it and I felt even Shiva and Sati must be angry on me that I've been ignoring them. Many toastmasters felt that may be I did not renew my membership this time, that's why I have been irregular. But the truth was I have been waiting to get rid of one project. And good news is it successfully went live yesterday. And I am back now.
I want to compensate for all the things I have been avoiding due to time constraints. I want to spend quality time with my family, want to compensate for all calls from my dear mom, when I couldn't talk. I will make sure, daily I spent at least half an hour for reading good stuff. I'll be active member of Toastmaster from now on. Phew!! There are so many things to do in this world apart from work. Hopefully my current project will not be as difficult as the last one and hopefully it won't affect my work-life balance.
Mentioning all the negative things of being busy, I think I should balance it by mentioning some positive points before I end my speech. And the positive points are I did not give up till the last. My managers appreciated my dedication, determination and devotion to work. I did get some e-stars. And I got to experience many things that I had never experienced before. And finally, last but not the least 'It gave me an idea for my P4".
I would like to end my speech with a wish:
"May you find the balance of life, time for work but also time for play.  Too much of one thing ends up creating stress that no one needs in their life"

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