No Stunt Doubles and Get Off Your Butt

Diana Beebe's Blog, Diana Beebe, science fiction, middle grade fantasy, fantasy, Mermaids Don't Do WindowsIt’s been quiet around here. I know. I’ve been busy. We are all busy, so I won’t bore you with my list. šŸ˜€

Too bad we don’t have clones, minions, or stunt doubles, right? Instead let’s settle for Wonder Woman, telling us to get over ourselves:

Do you ever have those moments when you think that there’s no way you can get everything done and keep everyone who depends on you happy?

Yeah, well, this week is kinda one of those weeks for me. I don’t have a stunt double. I don’t have a clone or a bunch of little yellow minions. (Oh, how I could have used those minions in the last couple of weeks!)

We have ourselves and anyone who’s willing to help us along the way. I have good friends, and I’m grateful for every single one of them.

We can delegate when appropriate, but we still have to go through that checklist one at a time. Things don’t do themselves. Really, it’s not enough to look at the checklist sent out in email messages.

I promise there are no little elves under the bed waiting for us to go to sleep so they can cobble us new shoes during the night.

So last week, I had to help make the terrible decision to cancel an event because there weren’t enough volunteers to make it happen. This too-big-to-fail event failed because people didn’t show, didn’t read the information that went home, didn’t get the memos, and maybe wanted the whole thing to happen magically so they could have fun.

I know from experience that four people can’t run this event and make it successful. I spent every spare moment on the event, but it’s a volunteer position. I don’t get paid. I have kids with schedules. I have a full-time job with deadlines. I’d kinda like to stay employed a few more years. College is looming on the horizon, you know.

Afterward, some people told me how disappointed they were. That it was a terrible thing. That they didn’t even know about the event. That maybe they should help out more.

Ya think?

Why is it that people wait to get a call to help even though they know there is an immediate need? Even though they’ve expressed an interest, they still wait by the phone. Why not just show up? Why not fill out the background check form ahead of time? You can’t volunteer until that’s cleared anyway.

Diana Beebe's Blog, Diana Beebe, science fiction, middle grade fantasy, fantasy, Mermaids Don't Do WindowsI invited them to my next board meeting. In fact, every member is invited to attend the board meetings.

While I don’t have a stunt double or a clone nor am I Wonder Woman (even if I’m close… Ha!), I like being me. Just like Spider-Man does.

My favorite superheroes are in my office (the Wonder Woman magnet on my filing cabinet and the Spider-Man page on my bulletin board) to remind me that I’m still me no matter how long the to do list is or how tight the deadlines are.

For good measure, I have the spuds to remind myself not to take things soooo seriously. (Here they are when Thor visited.)

Thor wondered about the potato-shaped men...

All I can do is find a way to communicate the needs of the group better. It’s up to volunteers to, er, volunteer.

I would love for my stunt double to be Wonder Woman, Mrs. Incredible, or even Spider-Man. For now, I’ll settle for Spidey Spud. šŸ™‚

I’d love to hear from you. What’s on your mind?

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