The worst thing about stuttering is....
...that I can't say what I really want to say.
...that other will mimic the way I speak.
...being scared to stutter.
...hiding it.
What I want people to know about me is...
...that I'm normal.
...that I'm no different than anybody else.
...that I'm more than my stutter.
...that I'm a hard worker.
Afterwards we had a free-flowing discussion where members shared what was new in their lives. A few are either going through the interview process for a new job, or have just completed it. One member was recently hired in a field he's really passionate about. His story was very inspiring. He talked about his experience with the interviews, how nervous he was at the beginning. He blocked and stuttered often. But by the third round of interviews he decided to look at the experience as just a way to practice speaking and to build up his confidence, and forget about whether he would be hired or not. This is what enabled him, in his words, to "lean back" and take his time when he spoke.
Another member talked about a job he had answering the phone at a big retail store. He barely made it to through the first few calls. But the more he did it, the easier it got. By the hundredth phone call, he said, he wasn't afraid any more. It sounds crazy: to do something that scares you 100 times. In Outliers, a book about what it takes to be successful, Malcolm Gladwell writes that people at the top of their field have spent 10,000 hours practicing their craft. There's nothing like practice, getting your feet wet, just doing it--over and over and over again.
Our discussion was in full swing when the time to end the meeting came. It was a little disappointing that we had to stop; but that makes it all the more exciting to get to the next meeting!
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