What’s Your Focus?
This part of the season is particularly stressful. The last qualifiers are passing by, spelling the end of the season for some, and the road to Regionals for others. Exhaustion sets in as energy starts to run low. You have been giving these speeches and researching for debate for four months now, if not more. You trade social activities for brief building, and spend your time talking to walls in an attempt to get your accents perfected. After months of competition and being scrutinized by judges and submitting yourself to emotional and physical exhaustion for three to four days straight, you are likely worn out.
Why are you doing this Speech and Debate activity?
If you compete with a focus on success, you will be constantly tired. No matter what ranking you get, there will be some part of you that feels like you should have done more. Or, you may feel angry, like you deserved to get a better ranking and the judges “just didn’t get it.” Disappointment is fine. Motivation is good. Self-deprecation and an attempt to disregard and undermine the success of others is not. Focusing on success can result in feeling empty, even if you do win. Sure, you’ll have a cool trophy that will sit on a shelf in your room for a few months, or even a few years. But it’s just going to collect dust. Eventually, you’ll box it away.
Instead of focusing on success, I would encourage you to compete for IMPACT.
We want you to succeed and do the best that you can. What we don’t want is for that success to be the focus of what you do. Take your craft seriously and give it all that you have. Reap the rewards of your hard labor. But do it with love. Do it with humility. If you’re fortunate, the trophies you collect will remind you of the memories and conversations that you had with your competitors. They will remind you of your hard work, your love, and your compassion for others.
Last year, while I was sitting at the Lasting Impact! booth at nationals, I was approached by a woman. I knew she was a mom from my old region, but I had never really had any interactions with her. She asked me if I had given a speech on “living lightly.” I told her that I had, and she replied that she had judged me and still thought of my speech a lot. I was stunned. I gave that speech over four years ago. That particular speech hadn’t actually done that well, and I was so tired of it by season’s end. I had wanted to quit with it so many times. You never know how God will use your speeches. Years later, your audience can still be impacted by the message that you shared. My family and I still talk about some of the powerful speeches that we saw in my freshman year, which is now almost six years ago.
The point with all of this is that we as humans have a very, very finite understanding of the world and our position in it. God can use our work for His glory in ways that we can’t even comprehend. He puts the judges that need to hear us in the rooms we compete in. He knows what topics the judges in outrounds need to hear. I would encourage you to focus on your impact, instead of focusing on success. Focus on building relationships with those around you. Focus on being kind and uplifting. Support each other. Do the best you can with what you have, and give your speech over to God. You don’t have to be “good enough.” You didn’t have to “do better.” You aren’t a “disappointment,”or a “failure,”or whatever other labels that our brains like to give ourselves. You are a child of God who did your best. You shared your heart. You communicated with grace and kindness. God used your speech and messages as He saw fit. There is so much peace that comes from knowing that your ranking ultimately does not lie in your own hands or in your own strength.
Secondly, I would encourage you to compete for knowledge. You learn so much information during preparation and competition that you would have no reason to learn otherwise. This is especially true in debate. I know that I had no intentions of learning all of the ins and outs of the Higher Education system, or about International Terrorism. At the time, I felt exhausted and like I would never need to know that information again. I use it all the time. My job requires a thorough working knowledge of college accreditation processes, why they matter, and the difference between regional and national accreditation. I work closely with people that deal with terrorism watchlists. And I’m just a normal civilian worker in the private sector!
Think of your debate resolutions. Think of all of the super niche things that you’ve learned. Energy Policy. EU immigration policy. Prison policy. Trade policy. These are just a few of the resolutions from the past years, and they all include knowledge that is still of cultural significance. Some of you will become economists, and if not, you will still have to figure out how to live within the economy. You could end up working in the energy sector. You could become a law enforcement officer. You could be a researcher for a think tank. If nothing else, you will be an informed and educated individual, with the skills to easily research the policies that our legislators are passing. You have no idea where God will end up taking you, or how He plans to use your skills. Continue to learn to research effectively and efficiently. Continue incorporating evidence into your conversations naturally. Continue taking good notes. These are all skills that will be invaluable in college and the workplace. Your future self will thank you for sticking with it, and doing the hard work.
The bottom line is that you will be tired from the hard work of competing. The difference is that your focus can energize you to pick yourself up and keep going. You all have so much potential and have been given a platform to learn, grow, and share your knowledge with others. You are helping take the first step in creating an informed and educated community. Do your best, harvest the skills, and let God do the rest. You may not see the fruits of your labor now, but someday you will. And who knows, maybe you’ll take home a trophy in the process. 🙂
Emalyn (Sharp) George is one of our Lasting Impact! Coaches. She loves looking over cases and wants to help you make an Impact! in your speeches. Schedule a coaching call with her TODAY.