By Thomas D. Pearman*
Time is all that counts. I was seeing the musical ‘Cats’ - “Burned out ends of smoky days - street lamp flutters - and then it sputters - and a new day has begun.” And a new day has begun. It means not so much to seize a new day - and enjoy it - but that the passing of time is inevitable. It was sung by the head actress - a cat- who had once been beautiful, glamorous and happy, but is now old, faded and knows she will die soon.
We are all part of the steady progression of time. We have come and we will go, just as people before us have come and gone, and just as people after us will come and go. We will leave great marks, varying marks, or no marks at all as our time has passed.
The passing of time does not escape any of us. One only has to look at photos of how we looked throughout our life. It seems situations around us change greatly, and we look older, yet we remain the same person. It is what is so painful.
It is the desire of wanting to break away from the prison of passing of time that makes us want to do something worthwhile, to strive for success. It is this quest that will make us happy. It will allow us to create happy memories as we look back - things we could accomplish - even though we may not be able to do these same things now.
Success breeds money, riches, and acknowledgment of your abilities. In some areas, success means reaching out and helping people less fortunate that ourselves - people we would be ourselves if we were born in less fortunate circumstances. By helping them, we acknowledge that we are all in the same boat - part of the passing of time.
We look back on the past - sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes remorseful, sometimes proud - but realize that it is gone. We look into the gray mists of the future, and do not know what we see. We are often afraid, yet often optimistic in hoping that we will have brighter times. Sometimes, we are too optimistic - thinking that our problems will be automatically solved.
For we are all on a long train ride. As we journey and look out we may see many pleasant things - children waiving, bands playing, people picnicking in meadows and parks, amusement parks, mountains, lakes, deserts and cities, and then we pull into the station - our final destination. It will be a huge party with fireworks, displays, merry-go-rounds, balloons flying. All our problems will be solved, or if they are not, it will not matter. We will no longer know sadness, pain or failure.
But is real life, we never pull into that station. The train ride seems longer and longer. We realize that the station, if it exists, is the very end of our lives. The purpose is to enjoy the train ride as much as we can. Eat one more ice cream. Fly more balloons. Work harder on the job. Put in for more promotions. Take better vacations.
Today you are 20. Tomorrow you will be 40. What happened to all those years?
Toastmasters Honors Members with Scholarship (Slightly edited for clarity).
The Kirkland Congregational Toastmasters speaking club recently established the Thomas Pearman Goodness Scholarship. Tom Pearman, 1955-1990, as he was known by his friends and family, died April 6 [1990]. He had been a member of Toastmasters since 1984.
[Tom] is remembered by his fellow Toastmasters as a sweet, affable and extremely intelligent man. He enthralled members with incredibly detailed speeches on subjects such as the Amazon River and Russia.
The recipient of the first scholarship award is Lynne Maiden, a new member to the club. Ms. Maiden was able, through the scholarship, to attend District 2 Toastmasters Spring Conference in Bellevue Washington. There she attended a day long series of invaluable workshops on public speaking. ...