Alpacas and groundhogs

One of the great things about being President of our Club is the support, advice and help I receive from past Presidents. For instance, Howard regularly sends me articles about Rotary I otherwise would not receive.

Recently I received a copy of the “Rotary on the Move” newsletter which contained an article entitled “Alpacas and ground hogs”. I was impressed by the message and have taken the liberty of editing the article for our Bulletin.

Alpacas are protectors by their very nature and are tuned to protect their family. DNA is programmed into them to take on the responsibility of protecting their family and if you threatened the flock, then look out.

There is a story that after a bush fire a group of alpacas could be seen continuously circling a small flock of burnt and traumatised sheep. Other farmers had come with firearms in hand to assist and destroy the sheep. Despite how badly affected the alpacas were from the fires, they would not let the farmers through. Nothing was going to stop them. They did not take a backward step - it was their job to protect their flock. It was also their purpose.

Groundhogs on the other hand, do the same thing day in, day out – and complain that “nothing ever changes”. When they do want change, they offer excuses and rarely take on the responsibility to make that change happen. They leave it to someone else to do. Groundhogs want the magic diet shake to lose weight rather than put in the physical work to produce a result.

The difference then between an Alpaca and a Groundhog is simple – it is about attitude.

One of my goals and that of the Board is to bring in the Alpaca attitude. We need to protect what we have – and the most precious commodity in our club is our own members.

We do amazing work for local and international communities and we should never forget to look after our own flock – our members have shared purpose and shared enjoyment. They ask others to be part of what they enjoy. We need to constantly ask ourselves.

Opportunities for Service: are we providing enough? What opportunities do you want?

· Quality of Projects: are they exciting and worthwhile? Are you willing to drive your own project?

· Social Activities: are they open to all and inviting? Are they diverse and reflect what you enjoy?

· Fun: are we having enough? What could we do to have more fun?

I would love to have your thoughts on the above and if what we can do to improve the “Alpaca attitude” thanks