From the Desk of DG Tom Polk
Once upon a time a man pulled into a gas station in a small town in the country. He asked the attendant there, “What are the people like in the next town ahead?”
The gas station attendant asked, “What were the people like in the town you just came from?” The man said, “Absolutely awful people. They were rude, inconsiderate, cold and unfriendly. They wouldn’t even acknowledge or help me.”
“Well…” said the attendant, “I’m afraid and sorry to tell you that that’s exactly what you will find in the next town too. They are the same kind of people.”
A little later, another driver pulled up to the gas station heading the same direction as the first man. He also asked what the people were like in the next town. And the attendant asked the same question, what were the people like in the town you just came from?”
“Ah, they were wonderful people,” the second man said. “They were friendly, very helpful, kind and warm. They would go out of their way to help a stranger.”
“Well,” said the attendant, “I’m happy to inform you that you will find those same types of people in the next town too!”
I came across this story and thought about how we as Lions are the same way. We get pulled down the “rabbit hole” of “members don’t care”, “people don’t want to do anything”, “no one wants to join” and on and on. But how much of that is real and how much of that is our attitude? Are we finding what is there or what we expect? We need to think about what we are saying to the community around us – are we saying, “here is good work that we are doing – come help us with this and help us do more” or are we saying, “we are a little club and we don’t really do much”. My wife’s favorite quote is from Joyce Meyers – “just because you have a cactus – doesn’t mean that you need to sit on it”
This year you will hear about my district project of Little Free Libraries along with new programs that are coming from LCI. These changes are exciting and can have a great impact, for any size club, on the community around them. Your club will grow with your service to the community and the world around you.
Remember – We Serve with a purpose