VOLUNTEERING

Thank you, that was a wonderful introduction. I do have to apologise though, you see, I'm not David Hobson. I'm a friend of his. He couldn't make it tonight. He felt terrible about letting all of you down. I thought, what a wonderful opportunity so I volunteered! I knew I’d be in good company.

They tried to get a high-profile speaker like Anthony Robbins. You know Anthony, he's the late-night TV motivational expert, he sells all those books and tapes on self-improvement. You know, I did it, you can do it. He's kind of motivator to the stars. So, since you are all stars, just try to imagine I'm Anthony Robbins, I look like him, except he has a bit more hair than I do, and a lot more teeth, and a lot more money. In fact, he has more of everything than I do. But then I couldn't motivate a hamster.

But even though Anthony Robbins is a highly trained professional public speaker, and a tremendous motivational speaker. I think he'd have his work cut out tonight though — trying to motivate you. I mean, You're already motivated.

Can you tell me someone isn't motivated when they're outside on a winter night flooding an ice rink when they could be home watching Seinfeld. Or how about organizing pre-school activities instead of letting them watch cartoons, especially when they're on a sugar induced rampage from Halloween. Motivate a volunteer? It's a contradiction in terms. It's like preaching to the converted. It's like telling a fish to swim, or like telling a bee to make honey. Or telling Doug Ford to slash spending. And the more Doug slashes the more we need volunteers, more stars of the neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, these days we're led to believe that the stars in society are the celebrities on TV. You've watched TV, you know that being a celebrity has no relationship to talent. You volunteers are the real stars. The people with real talent. The ones who organize, the ones who get things done around the neighbourhood. Quiet experts in your fields, with lifetimes of experience, working behind the scenes. And the neighbourhood is a darn big scene. Yes, volunteers have all the talent and motivation they need.

You see, to me, volunteering really is loving thy neighbour in action. Volunteers have a such an impact on society. It's said that when a butterfly in the Amazonian rainforest flaps its wings, that small movement can affect the earth's climate. It's that way with volunteering. One small voluntary act can set in motion a chain of events which can have dramatic effects - on yourselves, on other individuals, on groups, and on whole communities. I've experienced it myself. Let me tell you a true story which illustrates how one small voluntary act had such an impact it changed the course of history in Canada. It's called 'Great doggy bag disaster'.

Now I'm not saying volunteering always has such dramatic results. What it does have though are positive long-term effects on our community

Professor Robert Putnam, a Harvard political scientist has produced compelling evidence that the most socially and economically healthy societies are those that have the greatest amount of organized activity, from church choirs and chess clubs to volunteer involvement with children and the elderly.

Think about that! With the support of a committed council, and a strong parks and Recreation Dept you people are the ones that make Kitchener a socially and economically healthy city. - Not the Doctors, lawyers, and accountants. 1.5 million Canadians volunteer for community work on a regular basis, while three million volunteers occasionally. It's no wonder that Volunteers are called the "Third Force".

You are the force that holds the community together. Without this force our neighbourhoods would be less than they are. Thank goodness we have you! Given the economic climate and government cutbacks, you are being increasingly relied upon to take up the slack. It seems every day we are faced with new challenges to do more with less. The question is: how do you manage these challenges?

If Anthony Robbins were here tonight, he'd be telling you how to change. It's almost become a cliche to talk about change. We live in changing times, change is coming, welcome change, adjust to change, change your job, change your life, change your husband, change your wife, expect change, have change thrust upon you, accept change. I'll accept change anytime. What's sad is that we have people on the street looking for change. That must change!

The world is indeed changing, faster than ever. Adapting to change is part of the evolutionary process. It's called habituation, but it doesn't mean change is easy to adjust to. Change often means breaking habits, and habits rule our lives. We eat at the same restaurants, and eat the same foods out of habit, we shop at the same stores out of habit, we vacation at the same places out of habit. Our lives are full of habits; some good, some bad, and some that are downright odd.

Do you know that until recently, whenever I read a newspaper, I would begin on the back page and read to the front, it's true. It was a lifetime habit. I can trace it back to my childhood when I first learned to read. I always went to the back of the paper first because there was a comic there. And from there I started reading backwards. It wasn't a problem until I started reading books. Mysteries just weren't interesting, horror stories weren't scary, and humour wasn't funny. The only good thing was math which did get easier.

The worst thing about habits is that they are the enemy of creativity and it's creativity that can help us face these changing times. Habits are like chains. By breaking these chains, we can unleash creativity. But how do we break habits. It isn't easy, but I have a few ideas that may help. Let me tell you about my research project on how to break habits and find a way to look at the world differently. 

Breaking habits is quite difficult. But try it, break those chains, try my experiment. You'll discover that every day really is a brand-new day, full of surprises with new challenges and adventures. Remember - variety is the spice of life. Do you really want to watch Seinfeld for the rest of your life. I have a couple of suggestions though - sew your name and address into your clothes, and be incredibly careful which habits you break, some can be hard to unbreak.

There is one habit though that myself, and all the people of Kitchener hope you don't break, that's the habit of volunteering. Because we need our galaxy of volunteers more than ever.

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