Why is the web so damned slow today? Why is the printer jammed yet again? Where did I put the remote down? Why is everybody in front of me driving so slow?!
First World problems of course (one that is complained about only because there aren’t more pressing concerns). This time of year we’re simultaneously more bogged down with the issues in our own lives as well as more keenly aware of how desperately so many people live in our own areas and around the world. The federal poverty level in the U.S. for a family of four is $23,550, yet one in six American children lives in a family that poor or poorer. And around the world, using a definition of poverty as a person living with less than $456.25 per year, 43% of people live in poverty.
We nonprofits are taking on gigantic problems: poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, the resignation of the soul. These are commandments to consider this season:
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Show up. -
Pay attention. -
Do your best. -
Let go.
Here’s to a peaceful, healthy and prosperous new year. And faster internet, too, please.
* This issue: a First Person Nonprofit interview with a major gifts officer — and she’ll answer questions you post this week! Also How to Staff a Volunteer Committee, Ask Rita on an employee with a mental health issue, and why unicorns are still in self-exile from our world. We always love to hear from you, too, write here — Jan Masaoka, Susan Sanow and the Blue Avocado team
Thoughtful. TKU, Jan. Happy Holidays. RA
Love Blue Avocado! Thanks for keeping it real!
–Terri