The turtle and United Way

On my drive into work this morning, I realized - just ahead of me - there was a turtle trying to cross the road.

Naturally, I stopped the car. As I watched him slowly progress across my lane, I had concerns that the other drivers may not be as patient, and he'd fall victim.

Sure enough, a few did, and started zipping around him.

In today's world, I understand the role 'instantaneous' plays in everything we do. We want things right away, no time to wait.

Take my kids, for example. One is in preschool, the other in kindergarten. As much as I try to explain it, both of them can't understand what live radio or television are. It's inconvceivable to them, at times, that you can't pause every television show, or replay a song whenever it's desired.

I worry how they'll handle life on its own terms. Sure, it's easy to be in control with iPods and TiVo - but the real world doesn't work that way.

As I watched the turtle cross the road, it reminded me of community change.

The real, meaningful change that we all want - and the kind we focus on here at United Way - doesn't happen overnight. Not in a week. Or a month. Or a year.

It takes a long time. One second, one moment, one person at a time.

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?

With perserverance and patience, we can get to the other side of the road.