Oooohhh, so THAT’S What It’s All About!

Every year my company pays us one extra vacation day that we can use for volunteering. I’ve never really done it, I’ve always been caught up in deliverables and getting things out the door for prospects and clients. And to be honest, I never really understood why people got paid to take a day off to serve beer at a festival (or something similar) – it always seemed to be a bit of a cop out. This year there were posters up talking about the Special Olympics. I was hooked my calendar was blocked – I’ve always wanted to get involved in this organization and just never did. (That’s the problem with so much these days – why don’t we ever just DO some of the things we always think about – it’s time to take action so we’ll leave no room for regrets).

It was so great. A colleague of mine and I went and helped out with the Roller Skating – and these people were serious! The first race was the 1,000 M – I would have dropped over. Some of these guys were faster than you can imagine – while others inched their way around the track. But there was never, never a moment of not cheering. Some fell and got right back up again.

I was blessed to be a cheer leader and to help in Staging, guiding the athletes in a specific heat through the areas that they’d wait until it was their turn. Some were so so nervous, some excited and all had a story. Man, it was so awesome to get out of the office and spend a day in such a unique and positive environment like that. I needed to hit the reset button, there really is more to life than inking the next contract. We all know these things of course, but when you are inundated in them on a daily basis it sometimes takes a different look at life to realize how good life is and that when you walk out of the office – there’s a whole other world out there!!

It was a fantastic day – next year I’ll be back, hopefully doing more and able to spend a day at the track!