Welcome to the club - Part I

Have you ever been a member of a club? I'm considering joining one myself. I like this club a lot. I know a lot of people who belong to this club. Up until now, I have never considered joining the club. I have always been able to be a part of the club, on various levels, without actually signing on the dotted line. I have hung out at the clubhouse for years, participated in various events, and even volunteered my time and resources. Over the past several years, I have become very attached. There have been things that, like any club, I have disagreed with but they have never been that major. You could almost say that I have developed some type of strange love for the club and its members.

The reason why I have never officially joined the club is simple. There was never a good reason to. I have always been able to participate at a level that was fulfilling to me. For all intents and purposes, I looked just like all the other club members. I did everything any of the others were doing, even more than some. The only thing I could not do, and cannot do still, is vote on club policy or hold a high level position in the club.

For some time now I have been feeling that the club just wasn't providing me with the same fulfillment that it used to. Having been privelaged to be on the inside of the club for so long has left me wondering about the future of this club. The club will probably survive , but I wonder if it will live up to the potential that it has. I have noticed that others have begun to feel the same way about the club that I do. Initially, I wasn't sure what to do about this. Like I said, I have grown to love this club and the club members and don't want it to meet a mediocre fate. There was a time when I thought that maybe my time with this club was up. Maybe I needed to find my place outside of the club where I could feel significant growth again. Then I started thinking that maybe I should stick around this club a little longer. Perhaps I could be influential in taking this club to the next level; help it reach its potential.

That's when it hit me. I'm not a full fledged member of the club. I couldn't even begin to approach this without first becoming official. So, what's the problem? Why don't I just join the club? Therein lies my dilemma. We'll get to that next time.