Busy
Weekly update 9/13/2021 to 9/25/2021 #87
You are busy, I am busy, we are busy. Stick with me for a few minutes, and I will get back to this thought after I share some of my week with you.
Recently I had a chance to work with and learn from the Mayor’s Youth Council. I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it again, but this group of young people gives me energy for weeks. They are currently deciding what they want to focus on for the 21/22 session. Fourteen members have shared the areas they believe our community could improve and have now narrowed it down to three. At their most recent meeting, they had a good discussion, and even when they didn’t agree with one another, they did treat each other with respect and hear what others thought. After this discussion, they have until the next meeting to research on their own and see what they feel should be a focus for the year to come. Thank you to the members for always showing me the future is truly bright in our little corner of the world.
Along those same lines, I recently had a chance to speak to the current Leadership Jackson County class about Seymour and some of what is going on in our community. Part of the reason I enjoy speaking to groups like this is I am never sure where the conversation will lead. Following right along with Bri Roll’s presentation from Seymour Mainstreet I was able to continue the conversation about the positives and negatives we see in our community. I was also able to help explain some of the resources available to help in various areas when it comes to city government. Thank you, LJC, for the chance to share.
Several years ago shortly after the Grassy Fork Trail at Freeman Field Recreational Area was opened, it was suggested that we add some trail along the Yankee Road area. The original trail consists of three loops that can be combined to make a grass 5K course. Recently, with the help of Parks and Recreation Activities Director Chad Keithley, we were able to double the trail length to 10K with an additional out and back off the southwest corner of the existing trail. Thanks, Chad, for all you do for our community.
As stated in the opener we are all busy. Lee Iacocca who is probably best known for reviving the Chrysler corporation once said, "If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." How often have you been to a funeral or a wedding and heard a family member say “We should get together more often"? The truth is we should. Sadly, though, it will often be the next wedding or funeral that brings everyone back together again. In my current role serving our community, I fully understand how easy it is to let our time be snatched away by a million different tasks. I am aware that some weeks you will have to focus on what’s not most important to you. I am also here today to remind you to make time for those things that are most important to you. Focus on being a father or mother, on being a husband or wife, on being present for those most important to you. Give those things all you have got because as the years go by, you will realize how important they are. Pick up the phone and call, text, or facetime Mom and Dad if they are still with us. Check on a friend you haven’t heard from in a while. Before I go I would like to double up on the quotes this week and leave you with this one from Henry David Thoreau, "It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"