"I was 22 or so, living at the Philadelphia Central YMCA. A speaker came into the large lobby and spoke for a few minutes to the young men present. He was Millard J Bennett. In his short program he said these words I never forgot: 'Your voice is the instrument on which you play the symphony of your life.'"
"60 years later, this phrase continues to affect my life."
Burt Dubin, coach to professional speakers, Kingman, AZ
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"When I was about 26 years old, a girlfriend asked if I was going to marry my boyfriend of one year.
I said no, to which she replied "Then why are you still dating him?"
Good point. I couldn't justify it. Perhaps the status quo was too comfortable or convenient. I don't recall having any strategy, and wasn't seeking a husband. In hindsight I should have taken action earlier.
Moving on allowed me to better evaluate what attributes were important to me and my friend's comment prompted me not to settle for less. Shortly thereafter I found Mr. Right."
----Anonymous
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I never really enjoyed school except for the arts. When I was 11 my father died suddenly. In an effort to comfort myself one day I picked up his old guitar and started playing a few chords. I fell in love with the beautiful sounds I could make with it. I learned to play all on my own with books and some help from friends who knew a few notes. Before long playing guitar was all I wanted to do and soon I found myself writing my own songs to play along with. This brought me much comfort (but did not however improve my grades.)
I somehow made it to grade 12, home-schooling the last year. Along with graduation accolades I received the usual advice from well-meaning adults and even friends telling me that I could not just spend my life playing guitar; that I needed something else to fall back on and should go to college.
Feeling confused, I decided to ask my mother for advice, an unusual thing for a teen-ager! Her response surprised me. She said; 'if you get something to fall back on, you will fall back on it. There is no reason you can't succeed doing what you love".
Today I work in a music store during the week and play gigs on the weekends. I am not rich and famous (yet!) but I love my life and make a fairly good living. My mother is a well educated person but was smart enough to know that the academic path was not for me. Those few wise words from her that evening changed my life forever.
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--Josanna Savoie, British Columbia, Canada
My manager told me that although I excelled in handling details, I could not often see the "forest for the trees" which would, therefore, affect my future career in broadcasting. During our discussion, I vehemently disagreed with him and asked him for examples. He gave me one or two examples and asked me to spend part of the evening thinking about our conversation and to come back the next morning with my conclusions. If I could convince him that he was wrong in his assessment then he would modify the Performance Review.....if not, then the comments would remain as is.
During my evening mental review of what he had said, I had an "aha" moment and realized that he was correct-- .that indeed I had to learn to "think out of the box." In becoming a master of details I was not seeing the bigger picture...my focus was narrowing rather than widening. ..I had been wearing blinkers and losing my peripheral vision. Now, through his words, I finally "got it."
Martha Carroll, Lake Las Vegas
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Great thanks to all who submitted their own examples of a conversation that changed their life!
