Murphy's Law

I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side.

At Area H1 Speech Contest this afternoon, I became the victim of Murphy's Law, "anything that could go wrong went wrong"!

Being one of the four prepared speech contestants, luckily I was the only contestant without the speech title on the contest agenda. Why me? I sent the speech title timely and accordingly. I thought it was extremely important to print down my speech title to let the Chinese audience know two foreign names "Don Quixote" and "Sancho Panza"! And, there was Murphy's law, anything that could go wrong went wrong! I didn't have a speech title!

At a quarter to 2PM, I was informed to be the first contestant to deliver my speech after the draw of orders. Yes, please call me No. 1, because I was eager to deliver my best ever speech to the audience with audiovisual effects, powerpoint presentation and music arrangement; I was eager to tell a story with a dynamic show in five to seven minutes to inspire the audience; and I believed that everything would be in place, exactly like the good rundown rehearsal two days ago.

But, the sound track helper didn't show up when the speech contest was about to be called to order and the powerpoint presentation helper forgot the rundown sheet in her office! Why me? I spent so many hours working on the contents, delivery, and costume. A speech was more than a speech after I put my life in it! Voila, there was Murphy's law, anything that could go wrong went wrong! No audiovisual effects!

I gave up delivering my speech at the last minute of the Area H1 speech contest to many people's surprise. Many toastmasters thought I might as well deliver an impromptu speech without the visual aids. I should take the challenge no matter what happened! Yes, everyone was right! What could I say? Everybody would still be interested in 2009 spring fashion show without the music and images, except the supermodel who was the only person to be responsible for not bewaring of the Murphy's law.

Even if everything went wrong to my disadvantage, it would not be the end of the world. At the most, it was but an impossible dream. If I could think positively, I would say I was happy that I got the chance to reflect upon the cause and effect and learned a good lesson. After joining toastmasters for 23 years, it was the first time I gave up a speech at a speech contest at the last minute. I'm sure it would not happen again! If it was not a good lesson, then what it would be?

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

PS: In the past month, Sophia Chen mentioned that I reminded her of Orlando every time she helped me rehearse my speech. After I changed my hairstyle, from womanly long hair to super short punky hair, I became reincarnated Orlando of Virginia Woolf to her. This evening I felt "Don Quixote de la Mancha" transcending the borders of time and space to comfort me and told me his chivalric dream in person. I was moved in tears!