Whose Life Is It Anyway?
[An Icebreaker Speech delivered to fellow members of the Toastmasters International Club, Colliers Jardine Philippines Charter on July 16, 1997)
Good evening everyone. Standing here before you tonight, you can imagine the cobwebs I had to clear from my head as I tried to resonate on this exercise of “telling you about myself”. I doubt very much if “going beyond myself” is the right term, but the question of who-I-am-in-the-first-place makes this icebreaker speech somewhat baffling to me.
Oh sure, I also got a label of how I am supposed to be called. Denice Christine Gemora Garcia as my parents decided. The “Denice” you’d often find in the office stuck in the computer in the hope of keeping Consultancy Division a box-office hit in Colliers Jardine’s division festival. The “Denice” to my friends who sometimes have to put up with me when I’d start playing the classic “Summer of 42” on the piano, or when I’d sing Astrud Gilberto’s songs (without assuming I have her voice), or when I clone their stories in my write ups which I intend to publish someday, or simply as inspiration to my paintings. The “Denice” who as diagnosed as “Peter Pan of the ‘90s” three years ago by “Dr. Shrink” or simply “Ness” to my two sisters who think I eat too much and I talk too much — much like the rabbit stuff toy with an Energizer battery on that you must have seen on the TV commercials recently.
I am tempted to talk about my family background — what school I came from and then proceed with the accomplishments and accolades…blah…blah.. blah… but you see, these are the things that one would usually find in a CV or bio-data. And in my view, knowing a person goes beyond that. Definitely it takes more than a 6-minute assignment.
If numbers were non-existent, for instance, I sometimes ask myself: what age would I be? In some things like emotional maturity, I feel like my age at present is an underscore. And yet, admittedly, in some ways, like when I start why things are the way they are, I feel I haven’t even been born.Before I confuse you any further, let me state my opinion that knowing Denice is a journey. As long as the sun rises, there will always be new things, new possibilities to discover about myself.
I wish I can expound more on this, but as I put it in real estate terms, “Denice is still under construction.” But the best thing that ever happened to me which I am happy to share with you is when I came to know and surrendered my life to my Masterplanner, Who is our Creator and Almighty Heavenly Father Yahweh, and the Scale Model of my life as told on the Bible Who is our Savior Yahshua the Messiah. For whereas before, I thought I am the sum of my experiences, now I realized that being Denice is more of the possibility of who I can become.
Until then, I hope you’ll be there at the launching.
Oh sure, I also got a label of how I am supposed to be called. Denice Christine Gemora Garcia as my parents decided. The “Denice” you’d often find in the office stuck in the computer in the hope of keeping Consultancy Division a box-office hit in Colliers Jardine’s division festival. The “Denice” to my friends who sometimes have to put up with me when I’d start playing the classic “Summer of 42” on the piano, or when I’d sing Astrud Gilberto’s songs (without assuming I have her voice), or when I clone their stories in my write ups which I intend to publish someday, or simply as inspiration to my paintings. The “Denice” who as diagnosed as “Peter Pan of the ‘90s” three years ago by “Dr. Shrink” or simply “Ness” to my two sisters who think I eat too much and I talk too much — much like the rabbit stuff toy with an Energizer battery on that you must have seen on the TV commercials recently.
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