好久没有参加周三例会了。 这次回来也慢慢找到感觉了。 如果缺氧，再大的火也会熄灭的。 还好，有大家帮我把激情再次煽动起来。

这次我也不多说。 总结一句我我最近闭关多天觉悟到的想法。 追求并不在于把事情做得最完美，而是尽力而为。 我们无论有什么缺点，都是有爱惜之处。我一直希望大家能做得越来越好。 然而之前如果看见哪里有不足之地，就会觉得失望，会有一个‘怎么可以对不起大家’的感觉。 年级大了，快40了，也该看开一点了。 我现在最关心的就是希望大家能从心底找到热情，然后让你的热情推动你来行动。 无论是做一个简单的ah counter, timer, 还是准备你的演讲，还是做Toastmaster/GE。 即使你没有一个会议角色，你永远是一位鼓励别人又热烈欢迎guest的会员。 周会之外，你更可以做些别的贡献。  重点在于，不要浪费了你的热情。 因为缺氧了，它就会灭了。 一个没有热情的心是一个很黑暗，很孤独，很悲观的心。 亲身经历。

所以，我要鼓励我们的老会员，回来再次投入。 不要被日常工作学习拴住。 即使再忙，它也需要透透气。 觉得参与的机会不多么？ Excom 可以给你做特殊的安排。 请和我直接联系：）

好了。本来还不多说，结果说了那么多。 关于周三的会议，我就言简意赅的描述几句。 Yi：准备的比我想象的还好。 请你下次尽量说得再大声，咬字再清楚一点。作为主持人，需要更佳的介绍每一个角色。 但是比第一次进步很多了。 因为你的底子比较浅，你需要多下点功夫。 我们大家都鼓励你。  加油。 Liuxia：第一次作GE很具有挑战性。你对自己的评估很准。自己多做几次Evaluator，就知道如何更好地去评估其他的evaluator.  觉得你可以再多给一些建议。 但，我知道这也是和经验有关的。 总之，多参加会议，多做角色，就能提升GE的功力。 下次安排一个evaluator培训，也会有电用。没有别的捷径的。 Rita的破冰演讲最让我惊讶。你讲的真的超出我的期望。 请你以后继续带给我们惊喜。 喜欢你讲故事的风格。  Xiuhua 其实说得已经很职业了。每次要讲，都能讲得很顺。建议你尝试一些新的表达方式，避免把自己约束在一个舒适带。 我知道这是我们trainer常犯的职业病。 所以，下次给自己更大的挑战，追求创新。 希望我们的老将们也能采取这个建议。 舒适带不全是因为你对听众太熟。  别的角色我就不多说，但是你们都知道我对你们的认可。

还有，我们今天集体批过了两位新的会员，Celia and Wang。 我个人很赞赏他们的热情。 让我们大家一起鼓励他们，带着他们走这条发现自我的路。 让我们一起维持他们的热情，不让它由熄灭的机会。

最后，我想再次得要求今后的每一位Toastmaster 和GE, 尽责的计划，鼓励，带领你的团队。  不是简单的工作，但是你能学到很多。  其实，无论什么角色，你的投资永远决定你的回报。  切记。

还有，我写中文是因为我需要练习。  你们都有机会练英文，也给我个机会学汉语吧。

周末愉快。

It’s been a while since I attended our weekly meeting.  You know what I found?  Here’s a metaphor:  Even the brightest fire will die without oxygen.  So thanks to you for giving the spark again.

I’ll make it short this time, since I have to write in two languages.  These few days I had closed myself off from the outside world.  And I have seen the light.  I have realized that the end isn’t just about making it perfect, but about trying our best.  No matter what flaws we have, how much we failed, how imperfect we are, we are still worthy to be loved.

I have always hoped that everyone will achieve higher.  But before, when I saw shortcomings, I took it more personally, feeling that someone has to be blamed: either blame myself, or blame others.  Now that I’m turning 40, it’s time that I live more generously.  What is more important to me now is that you find your own passion, and let your passion direct your actions to self improvement, help others, and build the club.  Do your best to be even an ah-counter, or timer, or something more difficult such as a prepared speaker, or even a Toastmaster or GE.  Even if you don’t have a role, let your passion guide you to encourage other members and welcome our guests.   Even outside our weekly meetings, you can find ways to contribute.  The point is, don’t let your passion go to waste.  Don’t let it die because you’re stagnant.  Life without passion can be very dark and gloomy.   So, I want to encourage our senior members who haven’t been involved much lately:  come back and rekindle your fire.  Don’t be bogged down by your daily job and school work.  Your passion can always use a bit of oxygen.

Anyways, some comment about the meeting.  Yi as the Toastmaster prepared better than I thought.  You can speak louder and enunciate more clearly, though.  And as the host, you need to put more effort preparing and practicing how to introduce each role.  But overall, you have improved significantly compared to your first time as TM.  Because you’re starting a bit behind compared to others, I am asking you to put in more effort.  We’re all cheering for you.  Liu Xia: as the first time GE, I’m not surprised that you found it challenging.  Your self-evaluation is on the nose.  How can you improve?  There are no shortcuts.  You need to take more evaluator roles in order to learn how to evaluate evaluators.  It’s all about building up your experience through more roles and observations.  Perhaps, with Evaluation as the next training topic, it will also be helpful.  Good luck.  Rita: you surprised me with your Ice Breaker.  I totally enjoyed your story-telling style.  Pls continue to surprise all of us.  Xiu Hua:  You’re a very professional speaker already.  It’s very possible that you don’t find the basic speeches that challenging.  For us professional trainers, this can be a problem of being stuck in our comfort zone.  Perhaps you can try to develop new ways to express your ideas.  Be creative about how to use the stage, props, gestures, voice, to enhance the impact on the audience.  Challenge yourself to be creative.  I hope all of our veteran members can take this advice.  Being in a comfort zone isn’t just about feeling too comfortable with the audience.  For all the other roles that I didn’t mention:  well, you know that I fondly and positively of you.

Also, today we voted to approve Wang and Celia to join us.  I really appreciate their passion, as they have attended most of our meetings and outings in the past month or two.  Let’s all encourage them, take them on this CHIC journey of self-discovery, and work together to ensure that their fire will never be snuffed out.

Finally, I want request that all future TM and GE to do your best to plan, encourage, and lead your team.  These aren’t easy roles, but you will learn so much from it.  But just like any other roles, you reap what you sow.

Have a good weekend.   See you next week.

Hubert Lin, President of CHIC Toastmasters, the CHICest club in Bejing