I had the opportunity to participate in a Community Leadership class, it was one of the most eye opening trainings I have ever participated in. I feel so fortunate to have been choosen to be one of the two representatives from Shaw. At the end of the sessioons, we had to give a speech on how we were impacted......
Dear Lord, please don't let me die in this game I am about to embark
on. That was my prayer on the morning of SimSoc. In my mind,
nothing could mean I had failed at this experience more than dying. What
I would later learn is the only way I could fail at this experience, was to
fail to open my eyes to the needs around me and how I could positively impact
those needs.
All my life I have been firmly entrenched in
"the middle". I never gave a second thought to where I would
sleep or where my next meal would come from. However, because my parents
were extremely frugal, I didn’t know the extras that a lot of the children of
middle class homes know today, I naively thought I had it rough and thought
others had it so much better than me. I
don’t believe it was an accident I was placed in the green room, were the
perceived wealth was plentiful; it challenged the way I have lived and viewed
the world. While we had enough to
sustain ourselves we struggled with not needing each other to survive, and
finding the balance of growing what we had and putting back something
productive back in the community. The
struggle was REAL!! I began to see it
went beyond just giving to the Community; the true question was what the needs
of the community are? If we didn’t have
the right resources and utilize them wisely, we were not going to be able to
truly make an impact.
At work and in life I have been guilty of saying or hearing others say
“perception is reality”, and accepting that statement. How sad is that statement though? Think about
it in relation to our community….If we
are relying solely on our perception, we are making the assumption we know the
needs in our community or others ability to contribute to those needs. We aren’t asking questions as to what the
needs truly are, we aren’t DOING, and we aren’t effectively utilizing ourselves
as a resource. (Insert reference to
Mathew West’s song…Do Something.) The
lyrics to that song could really be the theme of this class.
After this experience, perception is no longer my reality. At work and in life I am questioning more and
digging deeper, making sure the questions I ask and the support I offer, get to
the heart of the matter.
I am currently involved in several United Way initiatives, but because I
work in Dalton, to date those have primarily been in Whitfield County. However, going forward those activities will
be in Gordon County. I most recently participated in the allocation
review for UW Gordon County, but plan to talk with Vickie Spence about a more
permanent right fit for myself and my family…I want my girls actively involved
in the community as I want to find something that will foster a sense of
community in them.
Finally, I want to thank our leaders/organizers for this
opportunity. Your commitment and pride
in this community is evident and contagious.
THANK YOU!!!!
