Are You Depends-Able?

This team’s costume for the 2013 Teton relays, shown here during the opening ceremonies in Ashton Idaho, included a diaper. Evidently each member of this team DEPENDS on each other. LOL. The Relay is a 24 to 32 hour, 180 mile race from Ashton Idaho to Grand Teton Village, Wyoming across the areas mountains and valleys including the Tetons and Jackson Hole. Teams are made up of 12 members with each member running 3 legs. Copyright by WyoJones. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

When I first latched onto this photo, I had no idea what I’d write about. I mean, it’s people in Depends. Runners in Depends. I don’t run and I don’t need Depends. Yet. Not saying I couldn’t have used some during the #hermitroadtrip, but didn’t.

But I liked the theme of their quirky choice. Each team member DEPENDS on the other. In the olden days (yes, I was there and the olden days had its moments), when someone gave their word, that’s all that was needed. People knew that, for the most part, they could DEPEND on someone to keep their word. At least in the small town, olden days where I grew up. It was a small world and if you weren’t dependable,if you didn’t keep your word, everyone knew it.

“In any position we accept, we offer our honesty, our integrity, and our good name…It is the works that we perform that finally build what we become.”

Marvin J. Ashton

I don’t think everyone means to not be dependable. In this brave new world we live in, it is easy to get overwhelmed by requests, by needs, by worthy endeavors, by opportunities and by other people’s urgencies. It is amazing how we can find out about important events and causes and get involved. But it is very easy to let someone’s passion for a cause or project suck you in. It’s way too easy for everything to get elevated to critical when every cause and project is worthy and good.

To truly be dependable, it is important to not let others set your priorities. (Case in point, I just got a spam called that was labeled “important” by the anonymous caller. LOL) It is easy to drown in a sea of good and worthy urgencies.

The key question to keep asking is, “Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.”
Randy Pausch

I was visiting with a friend about how and why people become involved in big causes. Usually truly deep involvement comes about because of a personal experience. For instance, because our family had a personal encounter with Hodgkins Lymphoma, we have a personal reason for supporting The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Because of our support of LLS, we can’t support other types of cancer research, or can only do so on a very limited basis.

When everything is good, you have to pick the good with the most meaning to you.

And in our journey of a life that is both dependable and has personal meaning, remember that you don’t have to explain to everyone why you are not able to support their passion. A simple, “No, I can’t,” is all that needs to be offered and should be graciously accepted. 🙂

Are you spending your time on the causes and projects that ignite your passion? Are you making progress toward the right destination for you? Are your choices helping you become the person you need/want to be? Am I right that no should be enough? Comments are both welcome, loved and entered into my monthly drawing for an AnaBanana gift basket, which is both awesome and doesn’t ask you for anything. 🙂 Winner is announced first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

Pauline

Pauline tries very hard to be dependable. For instance, you can count on her to hose her characters. Repeatedly. When she is not hosing her characters, she is wife, mom, grandma, sister and (she hopes) friend to many. And yes, she is still learning how to say no, too. If you want to learn more about her books, hop over to her website at paulinebjones.com. Her most recent release is a short story:

Can she survive dinner with the killing cousins?

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