Have you done the Gratitude Dance yet?

The theme of the last meeting of WestConn Toastmasters was "Gratitude" and it was amazing how all the members were able to weave some gratitude into their (often unrelated) TableTopics questions.

Speaking of gratitude... one of the blogs I read featured the video below of the "Gratitude Dance". The Gratitude Dance is basically people jumping around and looking foolish... but it got me thinking about a couple things:

First, Don't we all need a little bit more foolishness in our life? When was the last time you "let loose" and just did something crazy? Didn't it feel good?? Or at least energizing?

Secondly, What would happen if we all did the "Gratitude Dance" instead of just saying "Thank You"? Certainly more people would smile!

Now, what if we all decided that December 26th, 2007 would be the first (annual?) Gratitude Day and we would all do the Gratitude Dance (instead of saying Thank You) !?! Maybe the Gratitude Dance could be for the bigger "Thank You" occasions... like someone donating a kidney for you or giving you their parking spot right next to the door of the mall.


The UK has "Boxing Day" on this day, so it makes sense that the rest of the world should have Gratitude Day ! (In addition to Thanksgiving, of course. There can't be enough gratitude in the world.)


Before you decide whether or not to participate ... Did you know that Gratitude can make you happier? David J. Pollay writes in his article, Increase Your Happiness. Build Gratitude Chains™ in Your Life.
in Positive Psychology News Daily that ...

Robert Emmons, psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, demonstrated in his research that grateful people are happier. In his new book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Emmons wrote, “Our groundbreaking research has shown that grateful people
experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism, and that the practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness.”

Check out the video of the Gratitude dance and leave a comment below to let us know what you think about the idea of Gratitude Day on Dec.26!

Region VII--The Winner!

Official Results from the World Championship of Public Speaking....

2007-2008 International Speech Contest Winners

World Champion:
Vikas Jhingran, Cambridge, Massachusetts
(He is the speaker that District 53's Nana Danso was runner-up to at the Region 7 Contest).

Second Place:
Rory Vaden, Nashville, Tennessee

Third Place:
Mark Hunter, Albany Creek, Queensland, Australia

Comment from: Steve Rock
Date: Aug 21, 2007 9:08 AM
Subject: Region VII--The Winner!
And District 53's Nana Danso can now honestly state that he placed second to the World Champion! I'd say that Region 7 has a good shot at repeating next year!

Marilyn Jess, DTM, wrote:
First Darren LaCroix, now Vikas.....Simply Amazing!

Who won the "Battle of the Border"????

Since you all know that the [infamous?] "Battle of the Border 2007" between District 53's Div.A & D and District 46's Div.G was held last night at Ridgefield Library (hosted by the new Div.A Advanced TM club), I'm sure you are wondering....

WHO WON THE BATTLE?????

Well.... before I get to that, let me show you some pictures....

The picture above includes (l-r) Anne Swartout (Area A4 Governor/D53), Croix Sather (Tall Tales winner Div.A/D53), Edwin Borelly (Intl. winner, Div.G/46), Rob Ferrucci (Intl.Runner-up Div.A/53), Koshy Chacko (Intl.2nd Runner-up, Div.G/46), Jinghua Xu (Tall Tales Runner-up Div.A/53), Richard Peck (Tall Tales Winner Div.D/D53), Mary Neff (Div.G Governor/D46) and Nana Danso (Intl.Winner Div.A/D53)

As you can see from the pictures... everyone was having alot of fun.

Of course it wasn't all about FUN... we provided feedback to each contestant ... in an "American Idol" format with Richard Hastings, Mary Neff and Anne Swartout providing their comments along with inputs from the audience.

The contestants came prepared for a "bare-knuckle speech contest" and the audience was not disappointed! (The ContestMaster, Dave Wheeler, wore boxing gloves ... at least for a little while... but eventually, "the gloves came off".)

The prizes were awarded to the following contestants (pictured here, l-r):

Edwin Borrelly D46, 3rd place

Nana Danso D53, 1st place

Rob Ferrucci D53, 2nd place.

Of course the real winners were ALL the contestants who participated and were able to take their speeches and skills to a new level. All the speeches were incredible... and some may argue that the audience was the real winners.

How are we going to tell who really won?

I guess we will have to do it again next year !