The Y

I am on the Board of Directors of our local YMCA - it is a volunteer position.

I was privileged to be invited to the General Assembly in Salt Lake City last weekend - a conference they only put on every 3-5 years. I went with a little trepidation, I don't like being away from home, husband or puppies. But knowing it was only 4 days I knew I could do it.

I had very little expectation on how it would turn out for me. What I didn't expect was all the wonderful people I met. There were about 3500 people there from Y's all across the US - I met people from Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico. Most of them were staff, the split was about 60/40 or 70/30 staff to volunteers. When I told them I was a volunteer from a branch Y in the Seattle area they were all so gracious and thanked me for volunteering. They were genuine and displayed a real warmth. And most of the staff I met had been working for the YMCA for years - from 8, 15, 18, 20 to 30 years. Wow! Now that is dedication.

And the speakers were wonderful, enlightening, uplifting, an inspiration.

One of whom, Nido Quebein I heard on the first day. From him I took away this:

How will you go from success to significance...?