Eight Colors of Life

It's been a while since I have written something here. I was cleaning my files this afternoon and I saw my Toastmasters Basic Speech No. 1. I had this speech on October 11, 2009 and I wanted to share it with you...

Looking back, it is annoying and embarrasing that I can't control my own emotions while having this speech. -_- I was probably born to be crowned as a drama queen... haha

Note: This is the unedited version, so you may find some grammatical errors hehe

Eight Colors of Life

A person is an artist of his own masterpiece called life, staring in the blank monotonous canvas. But as the artist adds colors to the canvas, the picture comes to life and begins to appeal to one’s eyes. 

A blank canvas of dreams and hopes, I begin to color with life’s color strokes.

I started with the blue starry night,
When a little baby gril cry for all her might. Everyone breathe a sign of relief for my mother was still 15 years old then. She named me Rochel and I am her first little angel.

I draw the rich brown soil, for it reminds me of the small province of Negros Occidental, the place where I came from. However, as my parents face the reality that they can never give us a good life there, we sailed to Cebu.

Then I carefully put the refreshing green leaves of the trees, It reminds me of my parents sowing the rich green vegetables. I can see all the people passing by while I was 4 years old and shouting to catch the people’s attention to buy our vegetables. I can see the happy faces of my parents and my 2-years-old younger sister. 

Then I add the fluffy yellow chicks,
Because my parents started raising and selling them.
In the evening, I will sneak to my neighbor’s house and watch TV shows. When my mother had earned enough, she bought us a television when I was seven. I have a hardworking father, thrifty and understanding mother, and a strong sister. Despite the lack of money, everything was so perfect.

As I paint the red paint into the canvas,
I cannot see love that it offers. What I see is the broken promises of my failed fairy tales.
What I see is the red that comes from the wounds of my mother created by the man that we trusted most. What I see is the red that broke my family, the lust that cannot be controlled by most men. The scars that he left that made me so vulnerable.

A strong hatred I had never experienced overwhelmed me.

I did not notice earlier that the violet and the black paint were scattered accidentally.
I stared at the canvas, I have made an obvious mistakes. People might look at this canvas and criticize it. However, I do not have time to stay here and cry.

Someone told me once, your past does not define your future. I was blinded with the overwhelming color of depressing black,

Therefore, I stand up, and paint some bright orange strokes. Now, I can feel the warmth of the people who help me to endure everything, with their simple words and gestures. Just as what orange offers, endurance and sincerity.

Colors are the mirror of our most sacred feelings. You have the freedom to choose your colors, because this is your masterpiece, and nobody can do something, except you.  You are in control. You are the artist of your own life. Go and paint your own colors of Life.

Fellow Toastmasters, Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening.
Toastmaster of the Evening.