Volunteerism

Last fall I volunteered to help out with my son's Cub Scout pack. Little did I realize that by volunteering I was to become the Cubmaster. You think after having volunteered for the Navy I'd know better.

As part of my work with the Cub Scouts over the last 9 or 10 months I've meet a lot of parents and concerned citizens. However, it has come to my attention that the leadership of all of the civic groups in my small town is the same.

Now somebody is going to tell me "yeah, it's Pareto." 80% of progress comes from 20% of doers. I know, I'm being naive and this is nothing new. It is however a curious thing that people complain about the doers but can't get off their butts to contribute. Which leads me to one of my favorite quotes:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

President Theodore Roosevelt (http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm)