Long Day

It has been a very long day of one meeting after another. Sometimes I question the amount of volunteer things I’m involved in, but I believe we all have a responsibility to the communities in which we live. So, one of the things I do is serve on boards and do other volunteer work.

I have learned in the last year to not involve myself in any more projects that rely on other people to meet deadlines in order for me to get something done. You’d think I would have figured it out before now, but I guess I’m a little slow in this regard. I just know that I can end up holding the bag when something isn’t done if I’m at the tail end of the process. It has been a good lesson.

For years I would volunteer to do projects that required skills I had but were not common – from graphic design to newsletters to webpages. I eventually caught on that this was a recipe for disaster more often than not. But, I’m still tempted sometimes to do it. I’m learning to resist.

A year or two ago, I was almost sucked in to doing  a lot of webpage design but I resisted. I don’t even have time to redo my own website, which is in desperate need of a real design, so I don’t need to be working on others. It’s just not work I particularly enjoy – it’s way too rote for me. And I’ve finally caught on that just because I can do it doesn’t mean I should feel obligated to do it for someone. I offered suggestions, none if which were heeded, and I’ve been so thankful I did not commit to doing anything more than offer suggestions.

If only I could figure out what exactly I do want to do with my life… At least I’m weeding out things I don’t want to do…