Open Yourselves to the Great Unknown

What is love? Perhaps, too many poets, philosophers, and writers have tried to answer this question.
Have they succeeded? Well, if they had, I wouldn’t be giving you this short speech about love today. Don’t
get me wrong: I don’t presume to discard millennia-worth of thought and provide you with a neat three-to
five-word answer. It would be too audacious even for me. What I do want to achieve with this 3-minutes
long oration is the clarity. If my public speaking about love provides greater clarity on how little we know
about the subject, then my rusty speech writing skills are still worth something.

As a school student, I was captivated by romantic tragedies such as Anna Karenina and The Hunchback
of Notre Dame. These stories served as cautionary tales admonishing me about the consequences of
unrequited love and flaming passion. It was at that time that I swore never to fall for the seductive romantic
ideology – a belief that there is a soul mate who is meant for me. Admittedly, the belief still had its allure
(otherwise, I wouldn’t find Coldplay listenable). However, its enduring intensity waned considerably. You
might ask: “Why would I give such a reckless, hardheaded oath?” And the answer is simple: I made a
tradeoff. It was the tradeoff between ascending briefly to the deep blue sky only to burn my wings and
lasting lukewarm contentment with my mate. I wanted to outsmart Cupid. Checkmate, Love! Instead of
looking for a soul mate, I decided to settle for “Let’s copulate, mate!” And boy, was I wrong…

But before I continue, let me ask: have you experienced an unyielding burning sensation in your chest
fueled by a whiff of a person’s perfume, a hint of their smile, or even a fleeting thought about them? If so,
then you already know what made me break my promise.

And so I believed that my fate was sealed. I carried on with my life without giving a second thought to
fancy-schmancy love. Rather than focusing on a close relationship, I was only interested in superficial
romantic experiences with little emotional attachment. Put simply, I did not care about searching for my
“lost half.” Until it found me. It was an explosion. The explosion of preconceived notions, taboos, and, of
course, hormones. To my surprise, I wasn’t blown to smithereens by the 2000 ˚F blast. Instead, I became
whole.

My relentless belief into the innately tragic nature of love vanished instantaneously. And so did
unimaginative, pragmatic man I once was. So, to answer my initial question, I still have no idea what love
is. But I know that the turbulent ambiance inevitably following its arrival can fuel one’s transformation for the
better. Love became the catalyst for change, and this change manifested itself in the birth of tangible and
intangible idiosyncrasies, emotions, and ideas that replaced my old, coarse self. The one-dimensional
mode of existence was broken.

So, please, don’t eschew the great unknowable and earth-shattering force referred to as Love. The
enduring, intense feeling cannot be sidestepped in favor of tepid, calculated relationship. Trust me, I tried
and failed miserably. Love is simply too powerful. And it doesn’t care about your professed knowledge of it.

To hell with pragmatism, practicality, and fear. Love and be loved

Oct 2013

My prepared speech for school- Love.

Sometimes you open yourself up to a person because you feel and believe that they're different
and maybe this time they won't break your heart and that your love will be requitted. So you go
out on a limb and open up so much of yourself to this person. Things that you're afraid to tell
others about because of fear of being judged or rejected. But there's just something about this
person that allows you to tell them everything. You become so comfortable in the presence of
that person that you openly admit your flaws, you don't hide it. You just completely lose yourself
in love and in the thought and concept of being loved, of being in a relationship and of being
with someone that you can be yourself with. The idea of that person just completely excites you
and everything about them makes you happy. Seeing them and hearing their voice just helps
you in an inexplicable manner and being with them is an emotion of complete comfortability on
its own. You learn to love this person and you accept their flaws and differences. You accept
how they might not necessarily love eating McDonalds as much as you do or they are crazy
about sci-fi movies where you can't even get yourself past watching a chick flick.
But that's just it, you don't mind.
You don't mind because love is about sacrifices.
Its about sacrificing your weekly episode of The Vampire Diaries to watch the most recent
sports updates.

Because you'd rather lose the argument than to lose the person. You'd sacrifice a part of your
daily routine all for love. The worst part is that nothing is guaranteed. You're not guaranteed
how long you will be in a relationship with this person. You're not guaranteed complete
happiness and you're not guaranteed that things are going to be perfect. You just have to trust
this person and have faith. Believe the best and hope that everything will work out for the. Best.
Believe that even if you break up with this person, that you're going to be ok. Everything is going
to be ok, and that new beginnings are perfectly acceptable. Believe that you're going to
overcome heartbreak of any kind. You just have to believe that someone out there is looking for
someone like you.
What others see Wrong in you just might be the exact thing that will make someone else fall in
love with you. And you need to be realistic. Not all relationships last forever. Some relationships
are there for lessons and experiences. So that very person that you completely open yourself up
to, can break your heart. It could be during or even after the relationship.

But its all part of life I guess. You'll never know how to love someone wholeheartedly if you
haven't been hurt before. You just have to turn your heartbreak in to something positive, make
the most out of your situation. See the light in the darkness. But learn to deal with things too.
Find closure in what happened to you and don't leave a relationship with unfinished business.
Because unfinished business will have to be finished sooner or later, and I think sooner is
better. Allow yourself time to heal too. Opening yourself up to someone that much can hurt you
a lot, and everything you had with that person will be completely lost in an instant. And you're
gonna need to come to terms with that. Remember that what's meant to be , will be.

Love, is a complicated thing, and you're never quite sure how things could possibly turn out to
be. You're just gonna go out on a limb each time hoping for the best and patiently waiting for
your happily ever after with a special person.
 A Loving Family is One of the Most Important Things
in Life

I love you are always the last words my family say to each other when someone leaves the
house. It’s because we love each other, whether we want to admit it or not. Most families I know
are very loving and kind to their relatives, because, well… they love them. But, the sad truth is
not all kids get to grow up with caring families.

I believe having a loving family is one of the most important things in life. I remember in
probably first grade, when my great-grandma passed away. I was so young, and I can’t really
remember much, but I do remember some of my family members breaking down into tears
often. My great-grandma was very close to us, so after her death, my family’s love was probably
the only thing that allowed us to realize we needed to move on with our lives. We had each
other, which was the only thing we needed. Now, looking back on the tough time in my life, I feel
like it was an opportunity God gave us to prove our love to one another. It’s those kinds of
instances that make me believe and realize having a loving family is very well one of the most
important things in life.

Every single day, when I wake up, I sometimes stop to think about how lucky I am to get to
wake up and see my family every single day. I’ve learned there are many kids, my age,
younger, and much older, that have to wake up knowing they don’t have a family that cares
about them, or maybe they don’t even have a family at all. Thinking back to all the problems and
tough times I’ve had in my life, I realize it was my family and their love that helped me get
through them.

Several months ago, my great-aunt passed away. She was my grandma’s sister and best friend,
the person she told everything to. I remember my grandma crying frequently, along with my
mom and other family members. I didn’t know what to do; it was so hard seeing them so sad.
The funeral came only days after, and I still remember hugging my grandma while she was
sobbing. I remember even crying a little myself. It wasn’t necessarily because of the death of my
great-aunt, but because I realized how much I loved my grandma, and how much I wanted to
help her. Our love was what kept everything in line, and it helped my grandma to become
stronger and move on.

My loving family is my life and my strength. Without them, I would be nothing… my life would be
miserable. I firmly believe having a loving family is one of the most important things in life.
If you saw bullying, what would you do to stop it? Would you stand by and let it happen, take part in it or
try to stop it? Not many students think about this, and that’s part of the problem.

‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ That’s the Golden Rule and it should be followed in every
aspect of your life. If someone was in a position to stop you from being bullied and did nothing, how would
you feel? If you find that unacceptable, you must do everything you can to stop others from hurting
people.

Are you even remotely aware of how much pain these victims feel every day? They go to school knowing
they’re going to be hurt and they see no way out. This is because people like you and many others stand
by and let it happen without contemplating how much pain this is causing people. Ask yourself this: How
would you feel if you were in the victim’s position and could see no end to your pain?

When the victims see no way out, they may choose to tragically end their life, leaving more hurt behind
for those who were unable to stop it. Canada has the third-highest teen suicide rate of all the
industrialized nations, with 15 deaths per 100,000 people. Suicide is the second leading cause of death
for people ages 10-24, behind motor vehicle accidents. The death of a young person is always a waste of
life, so how many more lives must be wasted before something is done?

If you condone bullying in any way, shape or form, you are taking part in it. Bullying is everyone’s
responsibility and the option of doing nothing is unacceptable in civilized society. Some people may
consider mocking someone funny, even though it is anything but funny to the victim. Small jabs taken
every day can add up to a lot of pain and suffering. While it may seem innocent to the person taking the
shots, the cumulative effect of these daily jabs could be devastating. In addition to that, as the pain
increases, each jab cuts a little deeper.

Bullying can happen in school, so it is the responsibility of students to protect their classmates and to
show everyone the dignity and respect they would like to be treated with. The first line of defense in
bullying is in student’s own behavior. But when that fails, it must be brought to the attention of someone in
authority, like a teacher. The concept of someone in authority failing to address the problem is simply not
acceptable. This is why you must speak to a teacher you trust and know will do something to stop the
bullying.

Bullying is happening everywhere, even at your own school. You may not see it, you may not know it is
there, but it is happening and it causes unimaginable pain to the victims. The only way to end bullying is
to talk about it openly rather than making it a taboo issue. If someone is hurting another person, they will
not stop unless someone (either a fellow classmate or someone in authority) stands up for the victim and
tells their tormentor to stop. Bullying is everyone’s problem; therefore everyone has to be part of the
solution.
 1 Minute Speech for School Children on the Importance of
Education

Education is not just literacy. In other words a literate person may not be
educated at all. The point is that education is about having a goal—the goal
of equipping a person face life well.

Education is not just having academic knowledge about subjects

prescribed to be learned. Instead it should aim at the holistic
development of a student—cultural, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and
physical.

One of the hallmarks of good education is how it has helped a person

put to practical use the knowledge he has gained. Without this practical
wisdom, education is a failure.

Another area where education should play a critical role is in the area
of civic responsibility. Have you not seen educated people thoughtlessly
throw a banana peel on the road while they travel in a car? What good is
education if a person cannot see the harm he is doing to the public by his
thoughtless and selfish act?

Unfortunately, today education has become a business in many

circles. That adds to the cut throat spirit of competition in the marketplace.
On the other hand education should vigorously aim to instill moral values in
students.

To conclude, let me say that teachers and education should enable a

person to see and to observe, to think and to talk and act with the good of
others in mind. Without development of integrity and character, without
learning to respect others; education cannot be said to have hit the mark.
But when education ignites the mind and inspires the heart, then truly light
shines in the darkness!

Thank you!