Live United, By Ann Austin

It’s time to say goodbye to 2015 and welcome in a new year. What a year 2015 has been! From my vantage point, working with a variety of community organizations, businesses, individuals and state entities, I have witnessed some very thoughtful intentions being set for the future of our communities and our state.

The United Way board has also been thoughtfully looking at the future of our organization’s operations. We started a strategic conversation in the summer, focusing on four main questions: 1. What is our vision and theory of change? (What social challenge are we working to address and how do we believe that we can make a difference?) 2. Where will we play? (What part of the problem should we work on, what role should we play, and where will we focus our efforts?) 3. How will we succeed? (What actions, adaptations and economic model are required, and how will we measure our success?) 4. What capabilities will we need? (What skills and abilities will we need, individually and collectively, to create the impact we’ve set out to achieve?) The full article can be found via this link: ssir.org/articles/entry/the_strategic_plan_is_dead._long_live_strategy.

As someone who believes in setting goals (for every aspect of one’s life (I learned to bake bread this year!), it’s amazing how having clear intentions and allowing for flexibility will bring you down a path you can’t even fathom initially.

The conversations we have had as a board and within the community have been rich, exciting and full of promise! Though things are inevitably changing — and with change comes growing pains — our community is stronger than ever and the future looks bright.

Freeborn County is capable of so much — we have strong businesses, fantastic community partners (with nonprofits and local government), and people who truly care about each other.

I am thankful for the vision of our board and the ever-growing vision of our community. At times, we think we don’t have a voice or that our voices don’t matter. But that is far from the truth. I’ve watched people close to me grow so much over this past year — and strive for things they didn’t believe they were capable of.

Much of our hope for the future comes from a belief that it will be better, and much failure comes from giving up too soon.

I’ve been reading a book called “Eternal Echoes” by John O’Donohue. He’s a favorite author/poet/philosopher. He writes in such a beautiful, honest, heart-breaking way—humanity is so complex and so beautiful at the same time. I have to be in the right mode of heart to read him.

Lately, through bouts of insomnia, I’ve pulled the book out and read until the sun comes up. It’s been a wonderful time of meditation, especially as the year comes to a close.

I left off this morning with the following passage: “To grow into the person that your deepest longing desires is a great blessing. If you can find a creative harmony between your soul and your life, you will have found something infinitely precious. You may not be able to do much about the problems of the world or to change the situation you are in, but if you can awaken the eternal beauty and light of your soul, you will bring light wherever you go. The gift of life is given to us for ourselves and also to bring peace, courage, and compassion to others.”

We are all on a journey. Yet, too often we become distracted from what is real and from having a true connection with each other. We can learn to give each other space — and embrace the space to become our true selves and bring our community to its full potential.

May 2016 be a time when we move ahead with hope and anticipation. We are capable of great things, through setting positive intentions and working together — not giving up when things get hard, but striving continuously to improve. “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Pslam of Life”

 

Ann Austin is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.v