Betsy Blankenship, Ohio State University Marion

Change is good, right? At least, that’s what I hear all the time. We love it when the winter changes to Spring; we feel better and our outlook in general tends to become more positive. We look forward to being outside more and doing different things.

Some changes we make ourselves; others are sometimes forced upon us. Some changes are happy; some changes cause great upheaval and heartache. Either way, it happens, whether we like it or not.

I ran across this quote recently: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Victor Frankl. It really resonates with me right now, both at work and in my personal life.

Change is a constant in the book of life – I call them the chapters. If we never change, we would never grow and never develop new perspectives or experiences – and that would make for one long boring read! I realize that I must accept change as inevitable; and I need to look for the positive aspects in order to learn and grow.

ALAO changes, too. It is the nature of our volunteer organization – new faces, new skills, new services. Sure, it would be nice to have the same folks all the time; it makes it comfortable and gives us security. But we are an organization for our members and we want our members to have a voice. Volunteering on a committee, providing information to the newsletter, serving on the Legislative Advocacy Network, serving on the board, or even just getting your feet wet by being a Membership Liaison – all are ways that you can serve ALAO and start a new chapter in YOUR book of life. I hope you see ALAO as one way to put some change into your life; after all if you don’t put your two cents worth in, how can you expect change??