Why Become a Lion Member? |
There are plenty of good service clubs. |
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. Let's start with a few facts; male or female, it doesn't matter… anyone over the age of twenty-one can be a Lion member. To become one, just show a little interest to a Lion member and they will probably invite you to attend a couple of meetings. Some clubs wait for you to ask, so ask. If it is a dinner meeting, the Lion person may pay for your meal. That is if they don't suspect you're only looking for a free meal, which of course you're not. The purpose of the two meetings is to help you decide if Lionism is your thing and… there are no strings attached. Other than receiving a free meal, and possibly hearing a good speaker, why should you go through all that anxiety? Well now, since I don't know you, I can't answer that question fully. However, those who join the Lions Club never regret having the opportunity to serve their community. Besides each Lions Club is a little different and that is why you have to check it out for yourself. I am going to talk about some of my personal experiences-based on over 37 years in the Lions organization. So if you want to surf back to my homepage, I promise I will understand. (pout) I was a young man of 21 years when I first joined the Agincourt Lions Club. Self educated, due to leaving school when I was sixteen, I soon discovered that speaking to a small group of people gave me "lock-tongue-terror". That terror almost discouraged me from becoming a Lion. However, several members understood and helped me. I use the same trick today to calm my fears prior to public speaking. Yes I still have those fears. It only takes a few minutes for that fear to grip you and render your muscles tight and useless. The obvious trembling and gut-wrenching sickness, as well as legs like soggy noodles, can make you look pretty foolish. Here is what I discovered. It requires a few seconds of your time just before rising to speak. Via your imagination, visualize levitating a drink across the room and tip it over someone's head. That's it. Those few seconds of total concentration will relax all of those tense muscles and allow you to perform. Can it be that easy? Try it, you'll like it…just make sure the coffee is not too hot. I won't bore you with details of all the offices and chairmanships that I have attained within the Lions Organization. Those facts and accomplishments are only important to me. What I will bore you with is what being a Lion has done for me and likewise, what it can do for you. Do you know the feeling of helping someone and they don't know it? Do you know the feeling of giving to your community every day? Do you know the feeling of helping the sick and the blind? Do you know the feeling of making a difference? The list goes on. I could not have shared in those personal feelings without belonging to a service club. It is the results of a united effort from like-minded people that enables such feelings--one cannot acquire them alone. However, you can always enjoy those memories alone and nobody can ever take them from you. Reason enough to join? It sure was for me, being there--doing that. Belonging to a big city service club or a small town service club, I have discovered very little difference. In both situations, your personal effort, no matter how large, is outweighed by the amount of love and satisfaction you receive. I left the city club in Agincourt for a small town club in Burks Falls and found neither to be wanting. The few differences I found were that in a small village club, my business life, my social life and my service life did not conflict--amen for small towns. |
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