During the social time prior to the meeting being called to order, members learned that Ray Smith played a tenor sax in a dance band at one time. He shared that - during tax season - Rotary is his mental health break. He mentioned he had run into Aubrey Luma (former Executive Secretary for Mesa West Rotary) and she said she is missing Rotary and said to tell everyone "Hi!"There was some discussion about which member of Mesa West had the longest history of being a Rotarian. It appeared that Daryl "Pai" Bethea is a likely contender for that distinction. He originally joined the Tempe East Rotary Club in 1972 and has been a Rotarian continuously since that time. He transferred his membership to Mesa Baseline in the late 70's. Warren Williamson has been a Rotarian for thirty-one years.
Welcome
President Dan officially opened the meeting shortly after Noon by reciting the 2020-21 Rotary International theme, "Rotary Opens Opportunities, followed by the Rotary Vision Statement:
Together we see a world where people unite and
take action to create lasting change -
across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves
President Dan called on Wendell Jones to offer the invocation.
Introduction of Guests
- Andrea Murphy - retired faculty advisor for Westwood High School Interact Club
- Robin Harris - former Mesa Baseline Rotary Club Member
- Tom Yuzer - visiting Rotarian
- Dan Lamborn - regular recent visitor
It was noted that Robin and Dan are both in the membership application process.
Happy Bucks - Bert Millett
- Andrea Murphy was happy to announce that she has the position of Community and Club Relations with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. She said they are back to doing bed builds again, and very glad to be back at it.
- John Pennypacker pledged $10 - happy to have received his second COVID shot on Tuesday, February 23.
- Chuck Flint pledged $10 - happy to have a working hot water heater again, a fact that is also a benefit for the people around him. He also shared an illustration of words that are complicated in the English language. Most people cannot distinguish the meanings between complete and finished. An individual named Ralph Henry was able to explain it this way. When you marry the right woman, you are complete. When you marry the wrong woman, you are finished. When the right woman catches you with the wrong woman, you are completely finished.
- Lucinda General pledged $25 bringing fellow members up to date on the roller coaster she has been experiencing with her father who had a horrific automobile accident several weeks ago. Colleen Coons and Pam Cohen helped her clean out her father's empty apartment, so that is done and dad is safe at Sunrise in Chandler. He is about to begin radiation therapy. Lucinda ran into Kurt Klingenberg st the center. He was wearing his Rotary pin. Kurt's mom has been in the memory care unit at the center for a while. Don LaBarge bought a whole bunch of her dad's tools.
- Dan Coons pledged $10 for the great support he receives as President.
- Polly Cady pledged $5 for missing out on the service project at the Food Bank February 24. She went on to pledge $50 on behalf of Allan Cady. Allan's son, Jonathan Cady is now the service director for two dealerships - Infinity and Nissan.
- Jeanie Morgan pledged $10 regretting her technical challenges when she first tried to present her Rotary Minute.
Announcements
- John Pennypacker had attended a Zoom meeting featuring RI Director Johrita Solari and TRF Trustee Brenda Cressey. Donations to Polio Plus and the TRF Annual Fund are falling short. More donations to both are needed. John suggested members who have not already done so might want to set up a "My Rotary" account and authorize automated monthly donations to one or both. Donations to Polio Plus will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation $2 to $1. John offered to help anyone having trouble setting up their "My Rotary" account. For those who prefer to fill out forms and mail them, CLICK HERE to download a Rotary Direct Signup form.
- Chuck Flint offered to transfer $200 recognition points to any member contributing $100 for the foreseeable future noting transfer points have to be in increments of $100.
- Dan Coons reported on the President's call he had attended a week prior led by District Governor Elizabeth Mahoney. Plans are progressing for the Rotary Week of Service April 17-24. This activity will replace the District Conference, and member participation in service that week will count as District Conference attendance Dan and Shelly could use ideas on identifying a great project all club members can get behind.
Rotary Minute - Jeanie Morgan
Jeanie had hoped to give those attending a tour of the club website: mesawestrotary.org. The website is a good resource for members. What you see when you go to the home page is just a portion of the many resources available. In the header, there are "menu" links to additional information including the ability to see past issues of the Messenger. Any member can e-mail Jeanie for a request to have a link sent to them so they can update their own profile information and see other "members only" information, etc. ClubRunner is the system that operates our website, and their systems make it relatively easy for Jeanie to do a lot of the things that members seem to value. When social distancing starts to relax, she would like to get together with anyone wanting to learn how to do some of the tasks she does. Another resource Jeanie mentioned is a ClubRunner app that can be downloaded to smart phones enabling members to have contact information for fellow Mesa West Rotarians readily available.
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Program
Pam Cohen played a video to introduce our speaker David George Brooks and his message The Power of Gratitude. Brooks, also known as That Gratitude Guy, has been a speaker, coach and bestselling author for over 25 years. He is a former Nordstrom store manager and has managed in the corporate world for over thirty years. His published works include "The Brooker's Daily Gratitude Journal," "Six Word Lessons to Embrace Gratitude," and a number of other books on gratitude. As a result of his passion for gratitude, he has presented over 575 speeches and workshops in the past six years. With over 975 gratitude videos posted on YouTube, thousands have seen his message, and he is now considered a leading authority on how living a life of gratitude can enhance and improve your life. CLICK HERE to visit his website.
One of the keys to living a life of gratitude has to do with what you say to yourself about yourself. He recalled being in a race, and whle running across a bridge, there were lots of people ahead of him, but many more behind him. H remembers thinking to himself, "If those people in front of my had stayed home, I'd be in first place!"
He said the words we use to describe ourselves are important. He asked all in attendance to list six to eight words describing ourselves. Most tend to call themselves derogatory names. He encouraged us to advocate for ourselves. A key statement that he made more than once was, "Gratitude turns what you have into enough."
When you make a list of positive qualities to describe yourself, you need to keep it visual. Gratitude can influence medical outcomes. Positive vs. negative attitudes very often are reflected in positive vs. negative outcomes.
At one point in his life, Brooke said he took flying lessons. He remembered his instructor telling him "One day you will be grateful you paid attention and learned to read and trust the instruments." Later, when he was flying in clouds, he felt he was flying straight and level. The instruments told him he was wrong. He trusted the instruments, did a course correction, and truly was grateful for the outcome.
We know exercise is important, and walking is one of the best forms of exercise. It is also a good time to work on our attitude of gratitude with the things we talk to ourselves about while we are walking.
Brooke says there is science relating to gratitude.
- Improved relationships
- better sleep
- better physical health
- lower blood pressure
- less anxiety
Gratitude helps us realign our priorities, and appreciate what we have. He gave everyone homework asking us to list the top 25-50-100 things we are thankful for and to then put the list in priorty order. Look at it, review it, update it regularly, and keep it up. It is good to remind ourselves of the wonderful things that have happened.
He encouraged everyone to keep a Gratitude Journal. He has one for sale on his website, but a notebook would work.
Editorial note: For some, paying for the journal, would ensure a greater likelihood of actually valuing and using it.