Live United by Ann Austin

 

It’s a new year! And this is my last column for a while. Thank you to the people who have read throughout 2018 and who stay informed about what is going on in our community. It is important to continue educating ourselves and asking questions.

On New Year’s Day it was so cold, my family decided to stay in and watch a couple of movies. Our children are still young, so both movies were animated. I used to think animated movies were silly, but have come to realize they hold great wisdom.

One of the movies we watched was about a community who had isolated themselves from the rest of the world. They didn’t even think there was a larger world because past leadership had convinced them they were floating off in the middle of nowhere. We later found out leadership did this as a means of protection. They cared about their children and wanted to make sure they were safe by isolating them from reality.

In their community, asking questions was not allowed — it was greatly discouraged. Children and adults were continually reminded to push their questions deep down inside. If they asked too many questions or pushed too much, they would be banished.

A young man was banished because he discovered a truth that leaders didn’t want to acknowledge. He went out on his own and found a much larger world. It was scary at first, and full of uncertainty, but it was also full of opportunity. He brought this truth back to his community — and was forced, for a time, to lie in order for people to feel safe.

However, the community couldn’t live with that lie for long. Too much had been exposed — and they had to learn to deal with the truth.

It took a while for the community to adapt and embrace the new reality, but they did. And they moved forward, together.

This is an analogy for 2018 — and what it meant for me and our community, as we all tried to navigate what our future will look like. We went through a lot of soul searching, asked a lot of questions, did a lot of digging and I believe we are stronger because of it!

New Year’s resolutions tend to be very focused on personal growth — and how we can be better as individuals with our physical appearance, financial status, relationship goals, etc.

I tend to make five- to 10-year goals — because things take time. But, we can take our larger vision and scale it back to what we each can do throughout the course of a year, or at any given moment.

We can be more intentional about what we direct our energy to.

Last year, I learned to say “no” to the busyness that comes from continual invitations to meetings and events. I focused, and it helped me recognize larger trends and issues to address. We are taking a look at how our system is operating, and how we can adapt for sustainability.

As a member of a community facing hard truths, it is our responsibility to ask questions and find out how we can be part of moving forward, together. We are not helping if we deny the reality that is unfolding around us. But we can’t spend all of our time complaining either—we need to take constructive action.

Every community is facing unique challenges these days, and there are many variables out of our control. But, we can each do a great deal of good!

The future of our community depends on each of us, our ability to adapt and willingness to work together.

It’s time to take a pause, figure out what is most important and prioritize our efforts. Our children and our grandchildren will thank us.

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