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15
Practice Makes
Perfect
Angelyn Neoh
Orator of the Year
Winner
Helloooo
Halloooooooooo
Hello.
I know that was weird, or even creepy, but I was just practising my
speech.
So how was that? Was that effective? Was that perfect? Or should
there be more…
As some of you may have guessed, my topic is
‘P
ractice
M
akes
P
erfect
’
.
When I first heard this proverb, I thought, ‘Well, nobody’s perfect, so
why practice?’
Y
es
!
B
ut
W
ait
!
Before we start celebrating, we all know that our beloved
English teacher is going to come in and say, ‘Girls, girls! How
disappointing. You should all know that the word ‘perfect’ can mean
different things to different people.’
For example, in the recent Commonwealth Games, perfection
for some will come in the form of the ultimate gold, or, breaking a
record; but for others, it may be achieving their personal best. As all
of you would, no doubt, have experienced or observed, practice can
sometimes be hard, frustrating, lonely, boring, or even futile. For the
time we have, I’d like to share with you two of my favourite stories
about practice.
My Grandmother tells me of this true story about a boy and his
toilet turkey. A young boy who was toilet training, had difficulty
sitting still in the bathroom, so, to keep him occupied, his mother
gave him a real life turkey, to put on his lap…
And you can guess what happened when he grew up, and even
more interesting, what happened when his turkey died. I guess he
didn’t have much of a Thanksgiving! So the moral of this story is, be
careful what you incorporate into your practice, as this may lead to
bad habits.
Another good one is about a man who tried to impress his kids by
doing Yoga himself, and ended up having back surgery. The funny
thing is, that this was how he walked before the incident *
Before walk:
Bow legged, tip toed… and this is how he walked afterwards. *After walk: stiff
back and neck, arms stiff by side, chin up (neck brace).
I guess that is why it’s important to practice with proper guidance;
otherwise it could have severe consequences.
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