Silence. . . . the world is so quiet!
I was laying in the grass and staring at the sky. I was thinking of the topic for my speech, "If Only." If only what? Then I started to remember a story I read when I was a child. Do you remember the story called, "Horton Hears a Who?" It was about a small world of people living on a speck of dust. But this world had a problem. It was going to be destroyed if everyone didn't speak out. It took everyone together to speak out. They started doing everything they could to be heard, but time was running out. Why weren't they being heard? You see there was one person, one very small person, that was silent. He didn't think he could make a difference, so he was silent. Well it did make a difference, and when he spoke out with all the others, they were heard. The silence was broken. Their world was saved.
If only it was that easy! You see it is silence that is destroying our world; silence that is poisoning our water, air and animal life. I live in a world of silence everyday. But so do you! You see we all live in some type of silence when we don't speak out for a good cause. The silence may never end for me. That is the silence of not hearing, but I can still speak out. It's not just the deaf who are silent. It's everyone, everywhere! If only everyone spoke out. If only the world wasn't silent.
If only everyone took care of the world. What's happening to this world? We need to start saving the world now! If we don't start to do something today, there may be no tomorrow. You know there are many ways to speak out. We don't have to use our voice. Lets break the silence by acting out. We can start by recycling, and buying recycled products. We need to make better use of our water. This can really make a big difference. Water is important for our daily needs, like drinking and bathing. Our air is the breath of life. But when you add smog to it, everything changes. Smog! What a small word for such a big problem. But what can we do about smog? We can start by planting trees. Trees give us oxygen, and they clean the air. Start today. Speak out. Lets do this together. Remember the story, "Horton Hears a Who." It may only take one more person to make the difference, no matter who you are, hearing or deaf. . .Speak out!
If only everyone took care of the world. If only everyone spoke out. If only the world wasn't silent.
Thank you for listening today. I have begun to understand a lot more about my silence, the silence of our world, and what we can do together.