Enthusiasm

Last night Kat and I held our first Girl Scout meeting.  As is par for the course for the two of us there was a bit of chaos, a bit of running late and a whole lot of fun in general.

We only had two girls show up, and a third had been told about it by the one girl, but didn't remember.  Kat was running late between traffic and work.  Rachel tagged along as well, even though technically she'd be a senior, not a cadet.

But, despite the small numbers there was a huge amount of enthusiasm in the room.  And for that I am thankful. I'm thankful and grateful that the two girls who did show up weren't disappointed by the fact that there were only two of them.  I'm thankful that once we started listing ideas of things they liked to do and wanted to learn about or do they really started to shine and came up with some really cool ideas.  (I'm also thankful they're up for outdoor type adventures, not just indoor, clean ones.)  They want to go camping, to Knoebles, anything with animals, especially dogs and all kinds of other things.

I remember that enthusiasm that I had as a girl, especially at the beginning of a troop year.  There were so many possibilities and nothing was off the table at that point.  The enthusiasm of the girls was very contagious and it was hard for me to sleep last night, I had so much bouncing around in my head.  So, even though I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted to (and I slept in instead of going to the gym like I could have and wanted to) I'm very thankful for their excitement.  I'm thankful that this will be a joy not a chore and that the hardest part will be keeping that enthusiasm in check at times.  I'm glad to know that they're willing to speak up and let their ideas be known.

I'm not a huge badges person.  I will try my best to find a bade that whatever we do can be applied towards, but I'm not one to make our girls sit down and do a badge just for the sake of doing a badge.  I'm much more for having adventures and seeing where they take us and then figuring out what we can take away from the experience and if it turns into a badge, GREAT!  If not, that's OK too.
(This is where Kat and I differ from Jane... Jane is all about the Journeys and the badges and earning the awards.  To Kat and I, if we earn the awards along the way for doing what we want, we come out ahead of the game.  This should be about the journey, not the destination...  The current "Journeys" program is too much like home work at this age level, at least from what I've looked at and what other leaders have told me.  I'm not into having something that should be fun and enriching become like school home work... I'll get off my soap box now...)

So, today I am thankful for the enthusiasm of my girls and Kat.  I'm thankful that there are still girls out there that have that spark and that desire for fun.  Next week will be more of a getting down to business meeting, this was just a get to know you kind of meeting.  I'm really excited and looking forward to this journey with these (and hopefully more) girls.

Peace to all and may everyone find something to be enthusiastic and excited about!