Time to “just be”
Mind if I share a short story instead of a project today?
For the past five years, my first weekend in December has involved working a 5K/10K fundraising special event for the nonprofit where I work (my day job:). Each year, this has involved assisting in planning the volunteer components of the event, recruiting about 80 volunteers, prepping beforehand ensuring the instructions are clear and materials ready for all the volunteers to have a smooth, meaningful experience. Meanwhile, I do whatever I can to help my colleagues pull off the other aspects of the event without a hitch. I am not a morning person, so the set up time before dawn on race day, in some year's cold weather, is not always welcomed on my end. However, I try to show up fully caffeinated and try to be a pleasant host until I fully wake up a couple hours later.
Each year the day's work is somehow all wrapped up by about noon on the Saturday of the race. By that point I've answered about 900 questions from volunteers, unloaded materials, packed up materials, taking dozens of photos, seen countless smiles of participants, viewed families enjoying the afterparty, dogs happy from running with their owners, young children excited about pictures with Santa, and made several notes to myself on how things could run smoother next year.
This year our run, like many other events, went virtual, meaning runners would participate and log their run on an app from anywhere, anytime this past weekend. With no large gathering, my role shrunk to recruiting less than 10 volunteers for some roles last week during preparation. With no duties during the actual race, this meant I got to fully experience this event as a participant rather than an organizer for the first time. It was amazing. I slept in, my dog and I got outfitted in our gear and started the route I'd chosen.
While moving through the course, instead of thinking of logistics, who I needed to thank for coming, or details not to forget, I got to just be, rather than do. I took off my director hat and let my mind wander to the families we serve, my own experience with benefitting from the organization prior to working there, and my love for the cause. Those are things I seldom spend a lot of time on while in the midst of the day-to-day, so that I can focus on supporting others and carrying out the mission. This time though, there was no one around I needed to be strong for or support. Just me and my dog and without even knowing why, tears started to fall around mile 2. I checked in with myself and felt the release of overdue emotions. The last mile was slow as I discovered crying and running are a tough mix. That's okay though, I wasn't competing for a prize, I had won it already.
Apparently I needed this time, and I have a sense I may not be alone in this. This year has been one of survival and we have needed to hold it together. Therefore, I encourage you to choose a time to just be this week. Take off your mom, dad, educator, boss, nurse, doctor, pastor, mentor, or friend hat for a minute and see what is there waiting for you.