And then Darryl said, "There's got to be a better way!"

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

There's got to be a better way!

I first heard this phrase was 11-years ago during our annual closure at our YMCA. The annual closure is a week-long and is accomplished over the Labor Day weekend. It is a time when we all roll up our sleeves and give our Y a complete makeover from top to bottom, a thorough cleaning, painting, refinishing all the hardwood floors...

"There's got to be a better way!" was uttered by Darryl while we were busy scaping calcium buildup from the pool tiles. 

I have now heard this phrase every year during our closure event for various activities; this year Darryl as he sanded down the HVAC system to prep for painting. 

Eventually, we got the HVAC system painted and completed our makeover.

"There has got to be a better way" has become our mantra at our Y when we evaluate programming and services that we offer or when we look at things that are not offered yet in our community.

Now don't get me wrong, there are many times when we look at things and find that, at this time, there isn't a better way that we can see. It is this avenue of thought process that has brought on feeding kids at risk for hunger in our community. It is this thought exercise that brought on free swim lessons for kids in our community. It is this undertaking of contemplation that brought on the "Y on the Fly," our mobile program that takes our Y to communities where there is no Y yet. 

We just finished a Safety Around Water (SAW) event, complete with a mobile movie, popcorn, snow cones, and pizza, in a community that will have a Y built in it in 2024. 

It is the mantra of, "There's got to be a better way!" that has us not only thinking outside the box but thinking, "There is no box." 

I like not having a box. Not having a box is a freeing experience, but it does have its risks.

The safe place to be is inside the box, never stretching yourself, never risking failure and pain. 

Inside the box is a place of comfort, but it is also a place of stagnation. 

Inside the box begins to smell bad after a while.

Outside the box is freedom, of sorts; you can always run back inside the box if it gets too scary, or too painful.

When there is no box, you have left the box behind, much like Cortez did when he landed his ships in America in the 1500s when he burned his ships. 

While living with no box might be scary at times, there is no greater feeling than when the process works. 

Watching those kids and their parents have such a great time while they learned how to be safe around water was as much fun as we have had in a long time. 

Living with no box pushes you to cross a desert and take an oasis to the people instead of demanding they cross a desert to come to your oasis. 

I wonder what we will think of next when we ask the question, "There's got to be a better way."

Are you inside the box, outside the box, or have you left the box behind?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger