ESA, The Keys to Success
Each of us has a trove of keys in our home or on our key ring. Some are for things we use frequently; our house our car. Some open or operate things rarely used, but vital none-the-less; our safe deposit box or rented storage building. Then, there are the unidentified keys, or, worse yet, belonging to the last apartment, last house, or last office before the current one. Our lives are much like our pile of keys. Certain facets of our lives are enhancements even essential to our well being. Other, are clutter taking up space, slowing us down, distracting our focus and diminishing our success/satisfaction in life.
It is important, first, to distinguish between the essential parts of our lives and what is truly clutter. To do this we need to know what is important. Next, we need to determine what activities contribute positively to what is important in our lives. The remainder needs to go, like the keys in the drawer that have no known use or will never be useful again.
Traditions are part of the keys that knit together families, churches, clubs and other functioning units. Traditions that reinforce relationships and have positive outcomes should be among our keys that are kept bright, polished, and handy. We need to make copies of those keys and share them. Once a tradition has lost it’s meaning or becomes more cumbersome than beneficial it needs to be trimmed or eliminated. A beautiful tradition in our family has been Christmas breakfast. Usually thirty plus friends and family arrive over a two hour period for the Christmas breakfast. Over the years the menu grew each time a newcomer identified a favorite breakfast food. We had country ham, bacon, sausage (patties & links), fried and scrambled eggs, fried apples, grits, gravy, biscuits, croissant, sweet rolls, homemade jellies, honey, waffles, muffins, fresh fruits, stuffed dried fruits, crepes with fruit and cheeses, crepes with meat filled cream sauces, and unending additions. At some point the variety went beyond both available service space and the physical ability to provide the extreme variety and still be able to enjoy our guests. By sharing some of the last minute prep with others and by alternating food choices to cover an annually changing menu of favorites we have preserved what is best in the tradition. We polished that key and shared it with others. Conversely, as a young family we followed the practice of my husband’s family and, like migratory birds we went the first two weeks of July to Florida’s beaches. It was always a wonderful time. Our small children loved finding shells and building sand castles. As they grew into teens they loved “cruising the strip”, riding with van doors open and shouting greetings to other teens in other vans. The children grew up. The waters on our favorite beach became less clean. Our favorite cabin declined in its state of upkeep. The traffic on the strip became almost impassable even when no one was cruising. The joy the experience has brought us was no longer there. We eliminated that tradition. We discarded a key no longer valuable.
I have strong beliefs about the keys that are essential in my own life. Faith, Family & Other Relationships, Education, Financial Security, and Fun are on my ever-ready and most used ring of keys. I define success in flexible terms (my whole approach to life is flexible). In 2006, success for me equates to satisfaction even happiness. My keys open to success for me. These keys are pretty much universal. They cut across race, religion, cultural orientation and gender. Since our organization began as a book club with the goal of educational enhancement, it is my goal to have us experience, this year, organizational and personal growth in these key areas, translating learning into experience.
During our Leadership meeting, scheduled for August 19th, at Concord United Methodist Church in Knoxville, TN, members and guests will have an opportunity to circulate in small groups focused on these key areas. Please be with us and bring at least one friend. We’ll begin with coffee etc. at 8 in the morning and will finish with the formal meeting no later than two in the afternoon, having lunch together around noon. Come, share your keys, polish our organizational keys and help us both individually and organizationally to be more successful.
Sherry Broom, President TN Council ESA
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