Saturday, January 24, 2015

Ripples

We all create ripples in life. If we smile at someone, they might smile at the next person they see. If we grumble at someone, they will probably grumble at the next person they encounter.

Sometimes those ripples grow in ways that you never imagine.

I’m not a super-volunteer, I don’t join every organization and show up for every project in town. But I like to think that I make ripples with impact.

For the last several years I’ve volunteered with an organization called FIRST. (I mentioned it in a post earlier this week.)  To start with my volunteer work was just on the local level, doing what I could to help the teams that my sons were on.  It was easy, and seemed to help the adults in charge.

Then two years ago I stepped up and volunteered at a regional event where our team was not competing. In a stroke of synchronicity, other local volunteers started doing the same thing.  What we didn’t realize at the time was that our student team members were watching us and learning to volunteer and help.

FIRST principles include Gracious Professionalism, and coopertition, which are all about helping others and being respectful.

By the time we got to competition last year, our team, Sir Lancer Bots, had taken the concept of coopertition to a higher level.  They set a goal to help as many other teams as possible. Additional tools were packed, more supplies were put in place and the attitude of “we’re here to help” was prevalent.

Yes, we were going to be competing against the teams we were determined to help if they needed it. 
At the center of this effort was my son. My son whose career aspirations had evolved from considering becoming a priest to entering the United States Marine Corps, because he wanted to serve and give back.

He, along with others on our team, helped more than half the other teams that weekend. And it made an impact. At a summer robotics workshop, as we sat down at a table with members of another team, one of their members spoke right up “You guys fixed us at Duluth last year. It was awesome.”

This week, an article was published on a major suppliers / sponsors website with the story of a team that experienced a significant setback and was able to continue at competition due to the efforts of Sir Lancer Bots.  The article ends with an observation from the other team. “Our goal isn’t to win this year. We want to be the team that can help others. We want to be like Sir Lancer Bots.”

And people don’t understand why I volunteer so much. It’s because of ripples that we make.




This post is Day 6 in the Winnie Kao / Seth Godin #YourTurnChallenge

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