The Yellow Apple

Have you ever seen a yellow apple? I bet you haven’t seen one eh? For the only known color of the fruit apple is green and red. The question is, am I really talking about the fruit?

Fellow toastmasters, welcome guests, good evening!

At 11:45 in the evening on March 5th of 1987, a loud wail could be heard from one of the delivery rooms of a hospital in Marikina City. A baby girl with a head that had the shape of an apple was born. And that was how I got my name, Apple.

Ever since I was a little child, yellow has always been my favorite color. The reason, I myself don’t even know why. Could it be because of the meaning of that color? It’s common knowledge to some (like myself) that yellow represents, Jealousy.

I was never an achiever; I was just an average kid with an average face. Growing up as a simple kid would be fine for most people. But if you belong to a family of great achievers when it comes to academics, it would deplete the confidence of that little kid. Especially since the entire first-born children of our family (panganay as we all know) are major achievers!

Parents tend to brag about the achievements of their kids. But when you hear your parents talk about your cousins being an honor student and everything, it would really make you shrink in your seat during family dinners. Though I know that their main intent was just to motivate me, what happened was the opposite. Jealousy and envy are born and with those feelings, insecurity is conceived.

As I grow up, insecurity has always been my enemy. But, reading a lot of books help rid of my insecurities. Books are my companion whenever I am alone. Books written by Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump and Dale Carnegie are very useful. Their encouraging words helped me heal myself, little by little. But you know, motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.

When I reached college, I decided to myself that I wouldn’t want to live under the shadow of my amazing cousins. I strived so hard to improve my confidence, joining almost every contest at school. Cheerdance competitions, oratorical contests, and would you believe with a height of 5ft, I even mustered my courage and joined a beauty contest! And of course, I was the smallest participant. Thanks to the support of my family I was able to join that contest (It really is expensive to join!) But it’s not just the money; it’s the moral support that they showed me during the contest. All of them were present during the contest.

Up until now, there’s still a small worm of insecurity inside the apple that’s trying to eat her. That little voice whispering “You’re not suitable for that.” Or “That’s not your forte”. Or “You’ll make a mistake in front of the audience!” But because of the trust of a lot of people have in me, that trust is the terminator of the worm inside me called insecurity.

It dawned on me the new meaning of the color yellow, a promise of a positive future. Looking forward to every new day and being more determined on how I can improve my attitude and personality. I’ll be like a vacuum cleaner every day, absorbing as much knowledge as possible as I can. So, the next time you look at an apple, think of the Yellow Apple, the once insecure little kid who’s had a change of heart always thinking of a new hope and a promise of a positive future.