Who Has Time for Personal Development?

Ever since I sat down and started thinking about my goals, I've been immersed in Toastmasters. A couple of years ago, I mentioned at a Toastmaster training that our club had not grown any DTMs in the 19 years of its existence. The trainer wisely suggested I be the first. So, last year I announced to my club that I was going to go for it. It seems to have spurred a couple of members to consider doing the same thing. I know I've given enough speeches to have my ACS by now, but I can't find the manuals. I'll have to do a thorough search of my garage. I have boxes and shelves of books out there that I should go through. I know the manuals are really close by. I just have to find them.

I gave my last speech June 15 to a group of sales people who wanted to see what Toastmasters was all about. I didn't remind them that we had a meeting today, so no one showed up. I also invited people from the Heart 2 Heart Toastmasters club to visit Slick Talkers.

Slick Talkers is my home club. I also belong to Beyond Basics, an advanced club for Toastmasters who have completed their Competent Communicator manual. I saw their flyer at a couple of speech contests this past year, and it said they had several DTMs, several Past District Officers, several Area Governors, and I figured it was a club I should join to help me on my journey.

Now that I am going to be an Area Governor for 2011-2012, I'll be even busier. I got a taste of what it will be like when I visited Heart 2 Heart on Tuesday during the lunch hour. I was perfectly comfortable getting to know the members, asking questions, and encouraging them. Then instead of Table Topics, the Toastmaster of the Day asked if I'd like to say a few words. I got up and stuttered and stammered, and rambled on and on, and I don't think I made a point or sense. I was so embarrassed. I mentioned it to our past Area Governor, and he said he did the same thing. Now I know what to expect. Never go without a speech prepared about the DCP, the speech contests, the conference. There's always something to talk about.

I've achieved ACB, which is Advanced Communicator Bronze. This means I've given at least 20 speeches.

I've coordinated 2 speech crafts, which will help me toward the DTM. I have 2 more speeches and 2 more modules from the Leadership/Communicator/Club (LCC) Programs to achieve ACS, Advanced Communicator Silver.

I have achieved ALB, which is Advanced Leader Bronze. This means I've completed the Competent Leader manual and given 2 modules from the LCC Programs. To earn the DTM, I have to complete a High-Performance Leadership project. I have a couple of ideas that I'd like to talk to my management about tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about them. I hope they let me do one of them. Since it will be a Toastmasters project, I'd be willing to do it on my own time.

It's amazing how much I've learned being in Toastmasters. I've made so many friends both in my club and in the Toastmasters community.

Starting Over AGAIN?

My friends didn't start Atkins -- they started the Belly Fat Cure plan. And one of them lost 7 lbs and 1 inch in her waist!

My son and I are so excited we decided to follow this plan too. It includes foods we like. We just have to count our sugars and carbs. The best part is it includes sugars and carbs. We can eat chips, hamburger buns -- it's GREAT!

Tonight we had nachos with beef & cheese. I had a bologna sandwich for lunch and cheese sticks for snacks. It seems like I'm still on Atkins, but I can have bread and chips! Now to incorporate salads and veggies. I'm going to have to get to bed earlier tonight so I can make a salad for my lunch tomorrow.

Starting over again

A couple of friends and I are to start Atkins tomorrow. I've been following the plan for a while. I don't eat carbs at home, but if they are available where I go, I partake. Like yesterday at Toastmasters training, the breakfast included mini blueberry muffins, croissants, a donut. I took my lunch, which included roast and grapes. If I had stuck to what I took, I'd have done much better.

So, today I decided to read about the plan and what I should be doing. I'll start with the induction plan which is 20 carbs a day, 12-15 including fresh vegetables. According to atkins.com, that's a whole lot of vegetables. That excites me. I love vegetables. I love salads. I'll basically be eating like a cave woman. It says that if I'm more than 50 lbs overweight and have lost and gained weight several times (try 30), I'm probably resistant to weight loss (for sure!). I can follow the same plan as anyone and not lose weight. I walked at least 3 times a week last summer and didn't lose a pound. It's very frustrating.

atkins.com has some good recipes and meal plans that look delicious and easy to fix. I can't wait until payday. We're getting by after several bad spending decisions a couple of weeks ago which left us down to pennies. Luckily, my birthday last weekend brought 2 gift cards that bought groceries for us. We've learned a lot about being conservative and making spending decisions.

Open Letter to Joel Osteen

I've been conflicted for several years about Joel Osteen's teachings and what I learned in Catholic Church vs Episcopal Church teachings.

This letter helps put it in perspective for me. What do you think? I really want to know. I'd like to have a discussion about it.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Open-Letter-to-Joel-Osteen-Greg-Garrett-06-02-2011.html. You'll have to copy and paste this into your browser. I can't figure out what they did to this so I can make it a link. Progress -- who needs it?