So this past weekend gave me something to think about. How as a society we love to be catered to. Fast food, quick fill gas c-stores, even at church we love to take away from even there! We sit in our pewes and listen and don't do anything. We don't even react with those around us if we can get away with it. You know what though, it's not about you! Thats right. Its about giving back for what you are blessed with. This club and really if you stop and think about it, the entire state of Arkansas, is blessed with great riding areas. But sticking with ADR, its membership and those that have been members and those that rode with members are all takers. We love to rush out there and go ride. Without the mere thought of where the trails come from, who maintains them and why that place stays as clean as it does or who owns the property! You know the riding will encourage relationships if you let it. And building relationships builds a stronger club. Then the club will want to make sure it has a good riding area to provide to the membership and to the events we promote there. Get connected to the club. Find out what they are doing and be a part of it. There are a lot of great guys in this club and they want to be a part of something special. We have been blessed with one of the best riding areas in the region, southeast or southwest. What are you doing to give back for that blessing? When you are blessed with something special, don't you want to show it off? Well sure you do. But you want it to be as special then as when you were blessed with it. Excuses can start to creep in as to why you can't do this or can't do that, but you can always find a great excuse to go ride there. If you can't give back to the area then were you really the one that was blessed with it to start with? ADR has had a lot of members over the years. Some have had are blessed with different types of abilities or talents. We have used those abilities to make this club and its event better because of them and their abilities or talents. But they were just one "part", not the whole. When we acted as a whole with all of those great "parts" we did well. If one link of that chain breaks, well we have situations like we have experienced in the past! Get plugged in, contribute your ability or talent, and become a giver and you will be even more blessed with a great, stronger club, riding area, and friends that came from relationships. I personally have made a lot of freinds over the years from riding, racing and working trail. Some of those have lasted a very long time. The ones that have lasted the longest are the ones where we have worked on trails, rode and raced. It seems we enjoyed what we worked on better because we put something into it! But is starts with you remembering one thing - "it's not about you". This is a "we" deal. Give back and many more blessing will come your way. Believe it or not all of the talk about work and participation and membership will cease then. We will start talking about what the club wants to do about a larger place to meet and what our next club activity will be. Riding will just be one of the things we do as a club. But it has to start with us all pulling together and forming those relationships. It really isn't about YOU!
