The Lessons From Spring  

Kathy Bonner, LTD Team Member

Spring provides motivation to spruce up our gardens, homes, and ourselves. One area is our closet.  Try turning all of your hangers with the tip facing the front of the closet. After wearing an item, place the hanger with the tip facing the back wall.

 

After awhile we get a visual of how many hangers are not turned around…in other words, clothing that has not been worn for a long time. Now we know what needs to be donated and shared with others. This image inspires us to look at our everyday practices in a new light.

What does this have to do with Council? Sometimes our projects are like our closet and we don’t realize they have become our backwards hanger.

 

Spring is the perfect time to evaluate what our upcoming Council involvement will look like.

Important questions:

• How many previous projects were placed on the new calendar without ever assessing them?
• Were the attendance numbers down?
• Has our previous success now become our greatest failure?

 

The biggest spring-cleaning technique is to assess your outcome immediately after an event. It should be a team effort: the leaders, polling of the attendees, and those that did not attend.

Have we adopted the mentality that all members should participate in the one method of involvement, especially large fundraisers?

 

It is difficult for all members to participate, some cannot stand for long hours serving food, some cannot lift and move items needed to set up for an event. Their jobs, health issues, or family obligations can dictate involvement. In Council there are other areas for everyone to be involved.

 

Spring-cleaning should inspire CCW to provide more than just financial donations to charities.  We should be providing spiritual uplifting, leadership skills to be used in Council, daily lives and careers, along with creating connections among Catholic women.

Spring, the season of growth and joy!