05-17-11 Year recap in sixty seconds

So, as seems so common now, I've let a little time go by in between posts. Shame that. But anyway, things are a little behind now, and I'm not really the most energetic about trying to get caught up. This morning though, I was trying to sort through some old emails, and I ran into some old blog posts. You know, the really old ones. The ranting and raving ones. I think I still have some of those. But anyway, after the fifth or six one, I figured it'd probably be a good idea to through in some half-decent posts to try and balance things out.

Before I get to that though, I just want to say: Yes, Mom, you were right. My brief time as SPL was a fairly stressful time for a young scout, a time which inspired a tirade of rants for which the only pride that can be derived is that there weren't many typos. That being said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I haven't gotten to the point in the old blog posts where things started turning around for me, but just in case I failed to mention it, (not unlikely) I figured now would be a good time to do so. (Or do it again if I already talked about it.)

Coming up with something to do each week for scouts was tough sometimes. I'd look for ideas online, look through requirements for practically anything that we could go over, and I let things get more stressful than they needed to be. Now, in hindsight, it probably would have been a good idea to have one of those meetings be a planning meeting, to go over activities for the next one or two months. And even more importantly, delegation. It's a scary word, but it's powerful.

There was one thing that somehow managed to get into my thick head though. Leadership isn't one-sided. In order to be a true leader, you have to be able to see a group of boys as individuals, and relate to them in such a way that you can know what they need from you. It seems like just when I was beginning to learn that, the ward switch happened and I got released. Even if nothing else was gained from that whole experience though, that one concept was worth all of the worry. Now, whether it was worth having to read through all the rants and complaints that you guys had to go through, that's another story, but in my selfish and self-centered way, I'm glad I got to experience it.

What's more, it didn't end there. In the new Perkins Ward, I would eventually become the President of the Teacher's Quorum. It was a much slower pace than before, but I still had things to learn. A lot of that I got to learn from Bro. Foell. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Seminary was where I finally learned to feel comfortable speaking in front of a group, but it was Bro. Foell who helped me feel comfortable speaking face to face. I learned a great deal about self confidence from him. I learned how to look people in the eye from him. But one thing I'll never forget was the way he taught me leadership doesn't end in the meetings. I'm not just responsible for who shows up. I can still remember going on a couple visits to a less active member after BYC, talking with their family and learning their interests. It's true that we weren't really able to get them to come very regularly, but once again in my selfish way, I got learn about reaching out. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to BE. So thanks, Brother Foell. It meant a lot to me. (Thanks to everyone else too, he was just someone I've been thinking about quite a bit over the past few weeks.)

Hmm... This post isn't exactly what I had in mind when I started. Should I follow through with it and work on a different one for the recap? Sure, why not.

I thought I had leadership all figured out. And in some ways, I did. I definitely figured out what I felt were the most important, but there was something missing. Application. Up to that point, the stuff I learned were pretty personal, more for myself than those I held responsibility for. But more recently, that started to change. It started mostly, or most dramatically, with my Eagle Project.

Just figuring out what I wanted to do was difficult, something that Bro. McCord really helped me with. I'd say he picked up right where Bro. Foell left off in my education on leadership. To be a leader, you have to have a plan, know the steps to take, and choose the best course in following those steps. I still remember talking with him about project ideas and having him give me some ideas of who to talk to, then challenging me to contact each of them and get back to him with what I found.

Up to that point, I had followed a few leads and contacted a few organizations, but nothing had really worked. Partly I was just looking in the wrong places. Bro. McCord recommended several organizations to contact, one of which was the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, and we all know (or soon will know) where that went. I also learned about delegation from Bro. McCord. Let's face it, you can't do everything yourself and you won't really be a good leader if you try. That's something I had trouble with. Trust issues... Not really, but I like control. Adding delegation throws in a variable into the equation, and I much rather deal with constants. Starting to go off topic.

Anyway, I won't go into a whole lot of detail of the project. Let's just say that a lot of it was calling people, leaving messages, working around paperwork, visiting different organizations, and completely revising my plans to work around a new complication. And that was before I had to organize the actual work for the project. Was it fun? At the time, I might have eaten you for the question. In hindsight, it was awesome. I especially liked working on the project itself. It was like the final exam of everything I had worked for. Sure it had a few rough points, but just seeing everything slowly come together was incredible. Yeah, that whole delegation thing can really come in handy. I still like to be on the receiving end, rather than have to worry if it'll get done or not, but I won't deny it has its uses.

To conclude this slightly more positive rant, may I just say that Scouting and the Young Men's program are inspired things. It's impossible to look back and say it didn't mean anything. Not if you were paying any amount of attention to what was happening. I just hope that when I'm older, I can be the kind of leaders that I had. Plus Mom! Don't forget Mom! She get's most of these sappy posts though, and even in this one she's implied. I mean, how is anyone to manage anything without an awesome mom?

But the real point is... That's scouting for you. And just in case you've seen some of my earlier posts, let this one set the record straight. Scouting is incredible. It may be tough on occasion, but it's incredible.

-Cue the credits-