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walk out the door of their first meeting, never to return, is the simple hug of a member. okay the honest truth? i have some time. i have seen the endless parade of newcomers in and out of our doors. as a result, i am not nearly as welcoming as i could be, after all, i tell myself, the revolving door never seems to stop, why not wait and see if they keep coming back for a bit, before i put myself out there.
that little chunk of bull sh!t is a hard rationalization to get rid of, in fact it seems more true every day. not that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy or anything. after all, i have some time, and as a result, my behaviors are often repeated by other members who respect me. when i started to drop more than a buck in the basket, the seven tradition donations went up. the evidence suggests, therefore, if i pull away from the procession of newcomers, chances are others will do so as well. the final result, is that we die for lack of newer members to bring in fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
even though i know this intellectually and accept this as fact, i still find myself hesitant to take the corrective action i need to take. so what is this addict to do? well for one, let my mind go on my run here in a few minutes and allow myself to hear what i need to hear. make a conscious decision at the next meeting i go to, to reach out and hug a newcomer and sincerely tell them to keep coming back. and allow myself to grow through the experience of that contact. so that is what i think i will do -- time to hit the street!

∞ DT ∞