Last night was definitely an evening to remember! I had been asked to speak at Nelsons Youth Centre during their Annual General Meeting. It has to be one of the top honors of my young life. Being chosen to speak in front of such an amazing group of people, whom I could only hope to be in the same category as some day, was truly humbling and amazing.
Since meeting the phenomenal staff at Nelsons Youth Centre many months ago it was clear to me what we had to do. I don't want to name anyone, because I don't want to leave anyone out, they are all incredibly dedicated individuals who greet you with a smile every time you meet. Hockey 4 Heroes was created to assist Nelsons with their annual fundraising requirements and we can only hope that this is the first year of a very successful initiative that can provide some much needed financial help for many years to come.
As much as I would love to only highlight the amazing aspects of yesterday evening, I feel I would be doing myself and many of the youth and people I work with a dis-service if I didn't touch on the intimidating and uncomfortable side of the night. I recently turned 38 years old, however last night just before the majority of the guests and board of directors arrived, I felt as if I was an awkward kid again. I headed directly for the back of the room where the chairs had been set-up, and to make my uncomfortableness clear to anyone who was paying attention, I even chose a single aisle seat so that nobody could sit beside me. I then proceeded to stare at the evening program repeatedly in order to hammer home the anxiousness I was feeling about my impending speech.
Finally the time came and I was introduced to the group. I'm pretty sure I didn't hear a word of it because I was trapped in my own little bubble of childhood fears. As I began to speak I believe I even opened with how nervous and awkward I felt and how I probably resembled a lot of the youth the staff currently work with. I did my very best to focus on the many familiar smiles in the crowd and I just did what I truly believe we all have the ability to do. I shared. Sure I was scared and nervous and I could feel my heart pounding, but I also chose to ignore those feelings and power through.
At the end of the speech we all headed upstairs to mingle and immediately my child version was back. I did everything I could to avoid people, I hung by myself and I found things to do that would not leave me susceptible to any of my fears. Then a young lady I have worked with before came over and we started talking and she had a completely different version of me. She told me how well spoken I was and how confident and passionate I was and how everyone could see it and how she wished that she could do what I did. I obviously enjoyed the compliments for a moment, but quickly I asked her how she could see all that while I described how I truly felt. We both had a good laugh and she finished by telling me she was proud of me.
I scratched my head for a second and then I realized that is the most important thing any of us can do for any other individual and especially our youth! We must remind them each and every day how proud we are of them. How awesome their efforts are and how mistakes are great too because without them we don't learn.
The single most important thing to take from all of this is to always KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!! No matter what, keep pushing. Regardless of what you think, there are many other people with many different thoughts and just because you don't think you are capable of something, that doesn't mean you can't do it! Remember that old movie and song line, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!" That is the best piece of advice I can give. Life is going to suck and kick your butt more times than it will ever reward you and you know what, if we can greet those ass-kickings and failures in the same way we greet a friend bringing us a present, I have a feeling we will all be doing just fine!
To find out more about the amazing people at Nelsons Youth Centre Burlington, please visit http://www.nelsonyouthcentres.com/ and of course we can be found at www.TheJoshProject.com
Hope to see you all at Hockey4Heroes on Saturday Sept. 13th an all day street festival to raise money and create more awareness for Nelsons and The Josh Project.
Have a great day :)
Since meeting the phenomenal staff at Nelsons Youth Centre many months ago it was clear to me what we had to do. I don't want to name anyone, because I don't want to leave anyone out, they are all incredibly dedicated individuals who greet you with a smile every time you meet. Hockey 4 Heroes was created to assist Nelsons with their annual fundraising requirements and we can only hope that this is the first year of a very successful initiative that can provide some much needed financial help for many years to come.
As much as I would love to only highlight the amazing aspects of yesterday evening, I feel I would be doing myself and many of the youth and people I work with a dis-service if I didn't touch on the intimidating and uncomfortable side of the night. I recently turned 38 years old, however last night just before the majority of the guests and board of directors arrived, I felt as if I was an awkward kid again. I headed directly for the back of the room where the chairs had been set-up, and to make my uncomfortableness clear to anyone who was paying attention, I even chose a single aisle seat so that nobody could sit beside me. I then proceeded to stare at the evening program repeatedly in order to hammer home the anxiousness I was feeling about my impending speech.
Finally the time came and I was introduced to the group. I'm pretty sure I didn't hear a word of it because I was trapped in my own little bubble of childhood fears. As I began to speak I believe I even opened with how nervous and awkward I felt and how I probably resembled a lot of the youth the staff currently work with. I did my very best to focus on the many familiar smiles in the crowd and I just did what I truly believe we all have the ability to do. I shared. Sure I was scared and nervous and I could feel my heart pounding, but I also chose to ignore those feelings and power through.
At the end of the speech we all headed upstairs to mingle and immediately my child version was back. I did everything I could to avoid people, I hung by myself and I found things to do that would not leave me susceptible to any of my fears. Then a young lady I have worked with before came over and we started talking and she had a completely different version of me. She told me how well spoken I was and how confident and passionate I was and how everyone could see it and how she wished that she could do what I did. I obviously enjoyed the compliments for a moment, but quickly I asked her how she could see all that while I described how I truly felt. We both had a good laugh and she finished by telling me she was proud of me.
I scratched my head for a second and then I realized that is the most important thing any of us can do for any other individual and especially our youth! We must remind them each and every day how proud we are of them. How awesome their efforts are and how mistakes are great too because without them we don't learn.
The single most important thing to take from all of this is to always KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!! No matter what, keep pushing. Regardless of what you think, there are many other people with many different thoughts and just because you don't think you are capable of something, that doesn't mean you can't do it! Remember that old movie and song line, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!" That is the best piece of advice I can give. Life is going to suck and kick your butt more times than it will ever reward you and you know what, if we can greet those ass-kickings and failures in the same way we greet a friend bringing us a present, I have a feeling we will all be doing just fine!
To find out more about the amazing people at Nelsons Youth Centre Burlington, please visit http://www.nelsonyouthcentres.com/ and of course we can be found at www.TheJoshProject.com
Hope to see you all at Hockey4Heroes on Saturday Sept. 13th an all day street festival to raise money and create more awareness for Nelsons and The Josh Project.
Have a great day :)
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