A lot of people, myself included, are watching the French Open, which is an annual tennis tournament in France. Voila!

As you watch the competitors you notice many things, that they towel their face a great deal, there are a lot of judges watching closely, the grass is not grass, it’s clay and the speed of the serve by the players.

Women players get serves of 180 or more kilometres, and men over 220 kilometres.  After 150 KM I think a tennis ball is referred to as a missile.

But they do it not by virtue of muscle not nearly as much as fullness of swing and coordination,  as in technique bolstered by strength.

My serve is important to, but not on the tennis court.  How I serve my family, my friends, and whomever is counting on me in various organizations I support.

But is mostly how I serve as a father, and husband that is important to me.

I was touched recently as a new toastmaster who is a friend of mine, offered to give the toast as the meeting.  He gave real attention to the toast, and the aforethought was evident from the structure, and the words, including the repetition of certain phrases. What touched me was that he used me as the example of a good friend. I didn’t feel worthy honestly but graciously accepted the kind words, and we all toasted friendship.

I would love to think such kind words would be said when I pass on but unlike Tom Sawyer I will not have that opportunity.  It was nice to hear them now.

I urge you to not wait to say nice things, to

remember to say kind words while we can to the people we care about, being positive builds on itself, so let’s start a wave of recognition, and appreciation,  take a page from toastmasters and toast them today.

Thank you for reading, comments and suggestions are always appreciated !