090303Prepared speech script: Uncertainty is certainly more beautiful

Do you believe in fate? Are you a person that would always consult fortune teller or tarot card before making any major decision? I was, but I am not now. That’s the story that I wanted to share with you today, a story about how I regain full control of my life.

2 years ago, I met an old man in my friend’s place. He was about 60 and claimed that he could foresee others’ future using Chiwei, which is the ancient Chinese fortune telling technique. He invited me to his place and promised me that he would offer his service free. I happily accepted his invitation, after all, who is not interested in knowing his own future? In two days, I was in his place. He brewed some tea. I told him the exact time I was born, and he closed his eyes and started to calculate. Moments later, he frowned and started to whisper: “No good, no good.” I was so nervous that I could only stared at him, waiting for any words that he would utter, but the only thing I could get was dead silence. Finally, he spoke again: “your destiny would be miserable for the next thirteen years, you could never succeed in all the things you tried, and great misfortunes would be yours.”

I was totally frightened by the words he said, and kept asking him “What should I do? Is there any possibilities for me to evade those misfortunes?” He closed his eyes for another while, and slowly gave me another unacceptable answer: “Yes, the only solution that you could try is to be a monk until you are 40, then you can return to the outside world again. By that time, great chances would be yours.”

I could remember nothing later said on that day. The only thing that came to my mind was that I had to be a monk until I was 40. 27 to 40, my god! That was the golden age of my life. I should be earning money, going around the world, finding my soul mate and starting up a great family. But now, someone was telling me to be a monk? Me, monk? NO!

I was preparing my graduate school entrance exam back then, and his words certainly crushed my confidence. I went home about midnight with all those “being a monk” sentences haunting in my head. I could not fall asleep, let alone study. I dragged my tired body and mind to the living room, turn on the TV and hoped to find some comforts or pressure outlets. To my great surprise, I did find the solution that I wanted to my miserable fortune. Where did I find it? “HBO”

It was playing a movie called “Paycheck”. It’s a story about a scientist inventing a machine that could foresee future, and later decided to destroy it. Why? I am not going to reveal the plot to deprive your pleasure in watching that movie. But I would love to share a line in the movie that truly blew my mind. “Knowing future would take away all the other possibilities. You may think it’s good for it provides security, but you are wrong. Because if there is no other possibilities, there is no hope, and hope, is what we humankind can truly rely on!”

Yes! Hope is what we can truly rely on! The Little hobbies in Lord of the Rings fight against the great evil of Lord Sauron for they have hope and decided to give it a try. Americans believe changes are possible and made their 44th presidential election a milestone in the history. We, believe in hope. So even now it seems like thousands of Pandora’s boxes are opened and still opening, we look up and never give up, and hope the next season would be another economic spring.

What happened next? I threw away those monk curses and started to study as hard as I can every single day. Two months later, I passed the graduate school entrance exam, first place. Now, I am a national university researcher, going to present another accepted paper in Mexico this April.

So what do I really want to tell you? I am not saying that being a monk is bad. I have lots of monk friends. It’s just not for me. I am not telling you that “HBO” can always give you the answer, because I may really be a monk if the movie was Texas chainsaw massacre. What I really want to tell you is: as the Nobel prize winner poet Wislawa Szymborska put it: “Certainty is beautiful, but uncertainly is more beautiful still.” Yes! Uncertainly is certainly more beautiful still. Why? Because in those uncertainties, we can still hold fast to hopes!

Thank you! Toastmaster.