Well, I had my first 4H leaders meeting last night. Not bad. It ran a little long, but was well worth the drive and time. You see, about a year ago, I got the notion that it would be awesome to get my stepson involved in 4H. I had grown up in Mason County 4H from age 8 on, and LOVED it. He's quite inquisitive still, has big dreams on becoming an inventor and engineer someday, and really what better place to help him hone in on these traits than to get him involved in 4H projects and activities.
Anyhow, getting him involved meant I would likely be getting involved again too. We live in "urban" WV, and granted this state isn't exactly known for its vast cities and urban bloom, it does have distinctly urban areas, free of livestock and farms, forests and black bears... and apparently 4H clubs. That's right. In a fairly well populated town, I had thought there would be lots of clubs and parents working together for our youth... well, not so much apparently. Urban sprawl apparently works negatively when it comes to getting kids involved in activities and clubs... who knew. Anyhow, I had contacted the county extension agent almost a year ago now, wanting to know just what clubs were near us and when the clubs tended to cutoff new memberships to prepare for projects and fairs. It took a while before I heard back from her, and we both had a series of unfortunate delays that pushed our initial meeting back, but eventually I got to sit face to face with her and start talking about the state of local 4H, the lack of urban clubs and the need for a new leader at one of the outskirts of the city clubs. And so I've found myself getting reacquainted with a green and clover filled life. We've only had two club meetings so far, but I'm getting a feel for how things have been going with the club so far. There's a lot of younger members, too young to lead yet, but there will be potential later. The teens are few in number, but apparently they've got their own Teen Leaders group and several have started dropping the regular clubs to do only Teen Leader stuff. Sucks, because we really need them there to help lead the younger kids, but I can understand their desire to hang out with others their age and get involved in more activities. Our clubs current leadership are wanting to step down a bit and I've been tapped as their possible replacement. It is definitely an honor, but it's going to take some work. I want to try to reinvigorate the club a little, get the teens more involved, start setting up group activities and more fund raisers to help members go to camps and the like.
The Leaders Meeting was good. I got to meet some of the other county volunteers, get a peek into the budget, learn about some of the new program offerings that we will see added to 4H in the next year, and basically have a good time. Part of what we were discussing last night was what makes a good leader, a good club and a good organization. We talked about commitment, creativity, inclusion, openness, providing a safe and friendly environment, teaching, getting (and staying) organized, patience, balance and flexibility. While we discussed these things I thought to myself that we needed one more... sustainability. Not just financial sustainability or environmental sustainability... no, what I was seeing was an overall sustainability that covered keeping up our momentum for positive change, not taking on so much as individuals that we burnt ourselves out, teaching our kids how to raise money for their clubs and the fun things they want to do... an overall sustainability aimed at keeping 4H (and really anything important in our lives) from becoming atrophied and useless. There are so many great programs out there, some many great ideas for getting youth involved and interested in their communities, but it's so easy to lose our drive and that's not good. Without our drive for change and to see the obstacles ahead as mere challenges on our way to where we want to be. Without ways to help us sustain our momentum, it's so easy to watch ourselves slow down and eventually sort of stop... like the perpetual motion balls, you drop the one on the end and the force knocks the one of the end up. Technically, in the right conditions, it should be able to stay in motion forever... but there's gravity and friction opposing the motion and eventually the movement slows and stops. Our lives, our passions, our families... they all experience this, and sometimes the funk it causes on us as individuals, or groups, can be down right devastating. When we start feeling these effects it is time to take account of the forces working for us and our goals, and the ones working against us. What's amazing is that the things we expect to be working for us don't always... sometimes they cost us more time and money than we realized, sometimes they actually take our focus off the things that were more important. I'd like to challenge you, and myself, to take a moment and really consider your goals. Consider how everything else in your life effects those goals and then start thinking of ways to cut the friction out of the equation and see if you can reignite your momentum. I know this is something I need to do in my life, how about you.
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