CC#3: You will never be Ready

I can still remember it vividly. The round of applause, the cheers, the whistles, the hand clapping.
For a moment, I felt like a star shinning bright like a diamond. I told my self, Yes this is where i belong. This is what i'm going to do for the rest of my life.
Fellow toastmasters and guests,
I was standing on a stage in front of the audience of 500. I had just finished a performance. For a few seconds, i stood still just to immerse myself in the sea of applause. Then I put up the microphone and i shouted, thank you! i love you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm sharing to all of you tonight about my passion towards singing. I love singing. I knew it since when i was a small boy. Unfortunately, i had never got the chance to prove it because i was too shy. I had no confidence. I could sing out loud in the bathroom during shower but i just couldn't do it on stage. So for many years, I kept the voice within to myself.
However, things started to change when i first entered university. It all started with a performance during the Freshmen Night which happened at the end of the Orientation Week. 3 days before the Freshmen Night, i bumped into to a senior, named Karen. I politely introduced myself to her and ask for her signature. You see, as freshman, i was required to acquire at least 50 signatures from the seniors and another 50 among the freshmen by the end of the orientation week. So She asked me to sing her a song before she could give me her signature.
Here was how it goes...

(singing...)

She told me, Hey, you know what, you have got the voice. You should go on stage for the Freshmen Night. Come to MH370 tomorrow at 5pm. We will be rehearsing for the Night we need someone like you. See you there!
So, the next day i met Karen and the others at MH370. I first thing i told her when i saw her is, I'm so sorry. I don't think i'm ready for this. I need more time to practice before i can go on stage. I never perform on a stage. I'm not sure if i can do it. And bla bla bka... Karen stopped me and said to me, Sansit, trust me. You're never going to be ready for what you have to do. You just do it. That makes you ready. Come on man, just do it.
Because of her words, which i remember it until today, i took the chance for the leap of faith. I went on stage for the Freshmen Night. And to my surprise, I nailed it. I owned the stage. Since then, I went on to improve my singing skill by leaps and bounds. Now, I occasionally perform as a singer in cafes and weddings.
Fellow members and guests,
If you have a dream, never wait until you are ready for it, because you will never be ready for it. You will learn to be ready for it when are actually doing it.
If you’re waiting for the stars to line up and everything to fall into place before you leap and make your dreams your reality, I'm sorry to tell you that you’ll never get there.
We can never be ready but we can be ready enough.
If you think that you just need a little more time to be good enough or smart enough or ready enough, you’re setting yourself up for a lifetime of paralysis. You’ll never leap. You’ll never change. You’ll never do anything but wait and plan and talk about it and write about it and think about it but never actually do it.
That’s definitely not what you want, is it? It’s not what any of us wants.
Ladies and gentlemen,
A friend of mine once told me that,Always aim higher. Aim for the moon and stars. Even if you couldn't reach the star and you fall down, you might end up on the cloud.


Note:
Part of the article is inspired and adapted from Jodi Chapman's "You'll Never Be Ready"