JUST ANOTHER RAMBLE

 
THIS REALLY IS JUST ANOTHER RAMBLE.
 
THIS ARTICLE,
WRITTEN BY YOURS TRULY,
APPEARS IN THE NEWSLETTER,
PUBLISHED THIS VERY DAY,
HERE IN PERTH,
BY MY LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP.
PARKINSON'S WESTERN AUSTRALIA INC.
 
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART
 After Deep Brain Stimulation surgery last October, I was asked by 'she who must be obeyed' (my Parkinson’s Nurse Specialist) to give a talk at a Saturday morning seminar, describing my experience of the procedure.
 Being of a shy, quiet disposition, public speaking is definitely not my forte, in as much as I would rather face twenty hostile Zulus than perform in front of an audience.
 Well, whether I performed or not, I did appear at the said seminar.
 When first asked to do the talk I went, panic stricken with fear, to a good friend of mine who just happened to be a member of the public speaking group Toastmasters, begging him to give me a crash course in public speaking.
 “No worries,” said he. “Nothing's a bother, just come along to a Toastmasters meeting and see what you think”.I did just that and later I joined up as a member.
 So after attending a few meetings and picking up a few tips, input and advice from those more experienced, it came to pass that I was required to give my first official speech at Toastmasters. The topic I chose was a subject I know most about, namely myself. Myself being: Where I am at right now.
 So behold, dressed appropriately and not too well rehearsed, I presented myself accordingly and purposely proceeded, passionately performing a speech describing how I live with, deal with and manage Parkinson's condition.
 Nervous as hell, I started by saying that I am travelling with Parkinson's condition; that the term 'disease' did not sit well with me and indeed I did not have a disease of any kind. Further to that I made it clear that, the statement 'suffering with Parkinson’s' is flawed, pointing out that I will not be described in such a negative manner. I finished the opening salvo of my speech with - 'suffice to say, I’m travelling with Parkinson's condition'.
 So, now that I had the attention of a well meaning critical audience, as well as the appointed evaluator, I went on to describe how I manage and deal with Parkinson's condition. With a clear emphasis on attitude and a positive one at that, I erred by taking up all, and more, of the allotted time allowed for my speech. Who cared anyway, by now I was in full nervous flow.
 It was my 'war cry' that took me over the time, I witnessed the amazed looks as I said, “I’ve left my war cry against Parkinson's till last”.
 Later in the evening the evaluator went to the lectern, stunning me to the point of embarrassment with her positive analysis. Quoting the Dali Lama she said, “You knew the rules and you broke them all”, mentioning that it was a 'no no' to put my hands in my pocket, yet acknowledging I did this to hide or stop any tremors and gave me a pat on the back for it.
 After that, I received more feedback of a positive nature from fellow members. The best was yet to come. The Toastmaster for the evening asked for a copy of my speech. What a compliment!
In conclusion, I have to say this whole public speaking thing is a massive challenge for me. I'm on a steep learning curve. I have had a good win with this new venture and I feel an even bigger win against Parkinson's condition -a slap in the face to this imposter. I love it when this happens.
Before giving this speech I had jokingly said 'I will deliver a speech to rival Lincoln's Gettysburg address', well all I can say is that it went better than I ever dared to dream.
 So in linking the beginning to the end in true Toastmasters style:
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART,
which is, matching and bettering this effort.