SeizingMyDay

Paulson Receives Speaking Legend Award

It takes a week to let it sink in. Last weekend I was honored as a member of the 2007 Class of Legends of the Speaking Profession. The award was granted by the Veteran Speakers Conference in Hagerstown, MD on August 25, 2007. The award reads: "Remembering Our Past...Developing Our Future. When the history of our great profession is examined, may the truth of our beginnings be told to those who would grace the platform. Though orators and lecturers created our history and were our forebearers, the legends of modern professional speaking were a pioneering breed whose technique had no benchmark. We salute you...Legend of the Speaking Profession...Terry Paulson. Your creativity, improvisation, risk taking, and willingness to share have set a standard for those who seek 'The Platform.'"   

That is quite a statement. I was honored to be included in the same class as Lou Heckler, Al Walker and Earl Nightingale. Let me share my prepared comments that come close to what I said when I received the award.

"I loved it when Roy Orbison said, 'I may be a living legend, but that sure don't help when I've got to change a flat tire.' Coming here on crutches...with some of my original equipment showing signs of age, I can identify with that statement.But I must say that I love being called a legend by somebody else....especially the caliber of the people voting on this award. It's been said that a trumpeter that blows his own horn ends up playing to an empty theater. I appreciate this honor.

So let me humbly accept this honor knowing how many truly deserve it. If you are known by the company you keep; I'm in good company tonight.

Judy Garland said, 'Let me tell you, legends are all very well if you've got somebody around who loves you.' I've had those people around me throughout my journey:

Parents who loved to laugh and created an audience where it was more important to have fun in life than to be funny.

For Mrs. Nason who challenged me, a pretty shy football player, to compete for graduation speaker on the basis of my oral reports. 

The Lord has been good to me. Through His encouraging love I had the freedom to shine, and laugh, and sing...and work with youth. If you aren't funny and authentic with teens, they will kill you. I worked with Young Life and was a youth director.

I'm thankful for staff around me who recognized before I did that my greatest gift and calling were in speaking...and helping me get there.

For a wife, who didn't require me home every night. She had the confidence and the strength of character to let me serve and shine.

For NSA friends and leaders who encouraged me to serve and lead...and become part of a great family.

For a son, who is now a baptist minister and who gave me the gift of being in his audience and seeing him used by God--flowing with tears.

For giving me two grandsons--one of which won't shut up and has passed from wanting to be puppy when he grows up to wanting to speak.

In Hebrews 2, Paul talked about the great Cloud of Witnesses before us. I feel that tonight--here and on the other side of the divide.

Now, I also know that I'm not done and neither are you. We speak for different reasons now. I don't need to speak for awards or money. I have enough. I speak because I was meant to do it.

I now just have more stories, more depth, and more freedom to tell the truth about what works through my window to the world.

Art was speaking to teenagers and their parents, I had presented to the same group during the week. I asked him how he spoke at 95. He said,

Art Linkletter said, "It's easier. I don't need to prepare. Everything I say reminds me of something else. Just give me three minute sign at the end and I can wrap it up."

I've got my family, my family of God and my speaking family. Thank you for this honor and the company I get to keep because of it."

It was a great honor and a wonderful conference. I hope to return in the years ahead.

Visiting Our Piece of Paradise-Lake Tahoe (2-25-06)

For years we have enjoyed our home away from home in Lake Tahoe. When my father's cousin Carl Bostrom decided to form a unique time share in order to keep his home at the lake, we eagerly joined in. Now, we are one of ten families that own our lovely home in paradise. We can open the curtains and look beyond the balcony through the pine trees to our view of the lake. Over the past twenty plus years we have walked parts of the Tahoe Rim Trail, we've canoed some of the streams and the lakes, and we've seen most of what you "have to see" in Tahoe. Now, we can rest and just enjoy the solitude and the change of pace. We no longer have to ski every day there is snow. We settle for the pretty days; the ones that have good snow but are not too cold. We don't even torture our bodies to get in every run; we settle for half-day tickets. Are we old or what?

We had a wonderful trip up to the lake. We stopped in Visalia where I presented to the annual Tulare Country Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. I got to speak to Republicans in a Republican county about a Republican President I have grown to respect more and more. I love Lincoln and the lessons he can teach us about political issues and life. I shared with the 200 people gathered some of the lessons I have valued the most-messages about smaller government, sustaining the American Dream, keeping a sense of humor, seeking God's wisdom and strength, and valuing the men and women who serve in our military. The positive response from the politicians and supporters there was very gratifying.

For awhile I had thought of running for office, but the more I did my due diligence I realized that it was not the best use of my gifts. If I won, I'm not sure I would like it. Using my speaking skills to help further the Republican values I treasure is my calling. I do it well, and it is appreciated.

To keep the American Dream alive for someone, we also stopped at the Folsom Premier Outlets to invest some of our hard-earned money. Both Lorie and I separate for a shopping jaunt! I seem to buy more; things fit well without having to try things on.

One sad note, this is our first trip to Lake Tahoe in 13 years that we have not brought our dog Sunshine. Our aging Dalmatian is no longer up for the journey. Her arthritic body and occasional leaks makes it hard on her and us. It was the right decision not to bring her, but we miss her. I miss having her in the car in the morning as I go to the 7 Eleven for coffee and a paper. I miss taking her on walks through the wilderness area near the lake. I even miss the fact that we have to watch our food in the kitchen for fear she will leap up and eat it off the counter. Soon she will be gone. I will miss her even more.

Remembering to Listen and Learn (2-15-06)

As a speaker, there is nothing better than using your gifts to make a difference for an audience. Today I did a program in Chicago for 130 managers and leaders on The Communication Edge: The Art of Listening and the Power of Speaking.

There is nothing like teaching any subject to remind oneself of its importance. When you do programs on listening, you listen better with clients and with family members. It's my firm belief that autopilot is our biggest enemy to excellence. We just do what we always do. We don't think about it; we just coast. When you teach, you have to break past habit to dissect what works. In doing so, you think more about making the conscious choice to listen.

I talked with my son Sean today by phone. While waiting for my plane in Chicago, he shared his struggle to find God's will for his future. In so many ways, he loves his work as a youth pastor at Foothill Community Church in Angels Camp, CA. He isn't running away from a job that in so many ways he loves.

But recently two senior pastors in the area have approached him with the challenge of considering taking on starting a mission church in a nearby community that is growing rapidly and has very few churches. Sean is seeing doors open, and in his heart he has known that his best skills may very well be in working as a senior pastor. He doesn't want to succumb to hope when he really is looking for God to shout an answer. He wants a sense of calling, and he's praying to receive that.

How do you know God's will? Interesting question. I'm now sixty and I'm not sure I have any more wisdom that when I did when I was Sean's age. I read the Bible in search of the Holy Spirit speaking through verses. I look for a series of open doors that provide a path. I expect my passion for new opportunities to give me assurance. It's not one thing; the shout comes in a series of events. I trust that God will guide me…and my son.

I love the words I heard recently from a speaker, "Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous." Sean will know God's will in his own time because he seek it. I'm proud of him. Nothing is better as a dad to know that your children have found their calling and are using their gifts to make a difference. He is making a difference now; he will find a way to do so in the future.

I can't wait to get home. I've been gone for almost a week. I miss Lorie. I missed Valentine's Day, but I shall soon be with my Valentine. Better late than never.

From Success to Significance (2-12-06

I just returned from the winter workshop for the National Speakers Associations in Washington, DC. With over 400 speakers searching for that next idea to take their business to the next level, you can imagine people are franticly attending sessions, collecting handouts, buying books and taking notes. After recently turning 60, I'm a little less impressed with quantity of notes. I try to focus on the things that are worth actually doing.

I've decided to focus on the Internet as an alternative delivery system for sharing insights and value. This and other blogs that I'm beginning are a step to putting that into practice. I love writing. This allows me to write with a sense of purpose. Like with speaking, sometimes magic happens and I just may write something that is profound. You can let me know if I do.

On a personal level, the Internet doesn't excite me. I would like to be successful, but, at this stage in my life, I'm more interested in getting beyond success to living a life of significance.

Naomi Rhode, a friend, colleague, fellow Christian and downright great speaker, closed the workshop with a powerful reminder of that truth. She took us back to what it was like to play Monopoly as a child. You'd work hard to horde your money under the board. You pray to land on Boardwalk and Park Place. You'd build your houses and hotels and wait for an unsuspecting visitor. Can you remember when you were ahead and so close to winning, and then your father comes and says it's time for bed! You complain, but the board is picked up and all the money and hotels are stuffed in the box for another day.

She observed that it is the same with life. At the end of our life, our Father comes to us and says it is our time. He takes all those possessions and signs of success and pours them back into the box. It is then that you realize that it is not what your signs of success or your toys that matter, it's the things you've given away-your love, your donations, your wisdom, your hugs….

It had snowed in DC and the planes were grounded. Many of the speakers were unable to get home. I was spending an extra night before going to Chicago for a program. Instead of returning to my room to process notes, I took the metro from the Crystal City Marriott and headed for the Foggy Bottom Metro stop. I walked down 23rd street with my destination in sight. As with every trip to Washington, I love to take some time at the Lincoln Memorial. Seeing it surrounded with snow was to be a special, new treat, and it was. 

I read the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural as I stood near his seated statue. It was cold, but his words were so warm. Not settling for giving a great long speech, but instead honoring the men who had given their lives for their country. Instead of celebrating victory over the Confederacy, he talked of healing wounds. He never settled for success. He lived a life of significance. May we never forget!