Moments and Experiences
April Grace "Pria" A. Chiongbian, The Queen City Toastmasters
Imagine this: A young child steps into a mall full of decorations, wreaths, trees and lights; carols fill the air. You can feel the excitement, the longing, for that one special day, CHRISTMAS! When the day comes, the child waits for the moment when he is handed the gifts. When that moment comes, he rips the wrappers apart, grabs the new toys and plays with them, for days, weeks, months or until he is given a new toy and forgets about that gift.
It is safe to assume that all of us have tried being that young child eagerly waiting for Christmas or perhaps our birthday. Even up to this very day, we long for special moments or experiences because these make life colorful. However, a big majority of us don’t do anything after we’ve lived these moments. Perhaps they become memories cherished forever, or they get to be replaced with other moments. For example, for a certain time in our lives, we said, with each passing birthday “This is the best birthday ever!” previous “best” birthday, replaced with current “Best birthday.”
For the past two years, the moments and experiences I have been longing for and living were more of the trips I had with my friends. These are with my highschool friends who I rarely see these days. I went on to 3 different trips and each vacation was a wonderful and memorable experience. We enjoyed exploring new places and experiencing all the food. Moments turned to Memories. The photos posted on Facebook and we share the occasional laughs about the experiences but that was that.
Last August, I was with my brother in Canada. The 3 weeks trip was a series of moments and experiences. We got wet all over from the gush of Niagara. We reveled in the beautiful scenery the country had to offer. We saw a concert, got in touch with family who we haven’t seen for years. We even got caught by the police one drunken night. Good thing Canadians are stereotypically kind! That experience also taught me a few life lessons. The speakers on the world championship taught me that “Fear has robbed people with more hopes and dreams than failure ever did.” Another life lesson was from a Sunday service our aunt brought us to. The pastor shared about moments and experiences and how we can do more with them for ourselves and for the people around us. He simply said, “Turn moments into movements, turn experiences into encounters.” How do we do that? By using our experiences and moments to make a positive change in our lives or in others. So how did I turn that August experience into an encounter, by sharing what the pastor told us and by doing what all great Toastmasters do, making a speech out of it.
We’ve all actually done this already, we just need to make a conscious effort of doing this to make it more consistent. When we graduate, that is one moment we all long for right? Most of us pursue our chosen degree and through the work that we do, we impact the people around us. It is a movement for positivity that began the moment we graduated. Or perhaps that extremely precious moment some of you may have had the chance to have, to hold their baby for the first time. We turn this experience into an encounter by promising this baby a good life and bringing him up to the best of our abilities to become a good citizen of this world.
Keep in mind that all our moments and experiences, while cherished as a memory, can become more. We are all like the young child longing for Christmas, longing for a next big moment; maybe a trip or a promotion. When that moment comes, let us make the conscious effort to: “Turn moments into movements, turn experiences into encounters.”
•Pria is a club officer of The Queen City Toastmasters. The club meets every 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, 6 p.m. at Salt Restaurant, St. Patrick’s Square, Redemptorist Road, Cebu City.