The future, the great unknown…
There are always lots of questions about the future. What will the future be like? What will be there in the future? Now these are really good questions. But I think the more appropriate question would be is there going to be a future left for us, Rotary?!
In a message to the 1914 Houston convention, Paul Harris said “The future of Rotary is shrouded in expectant mystery. It will be for you, my Rotarian friends, to aid in the unfurling of the Rotarian destiny. Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves.”
Paul’s words may well have been addressed to that great convention in Texas 106 years ago, but even more so now, his words are more relevant than ever! But there is still “an expectant mystery” about the future of Rotary - it is still up to us, as Rotarians to be a part of the unfurling of Rotary’s future destiny. So that question must be asked in 2020, is Rotary relevant? Are we facing an opportunity with that question or do we frame it as a challenge? Let’s consider Rotary’s situation as an opportunity because we have so much to offer.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that the essence of life is “to serve others and do good,” and it seems there is an increasing number of people starting to wake up to that philosophy and see why volunteering is important now. People are starting to understand how serving and helping each other and different communities benefits not just others but themselves too, so the ethos of Rotary and our motto of “Service Above Self” is still relevant and will be relevant into the future.
As an organization we need to capitalize on that feeling of good will and importance because those people who rely on Rotary now will still need to rely on us for help in 30 years’ time and will we be here to keep fulfilling that need?
These very same people are looking to organizations like Rotary to mend the societal divide and facilitate connections they are so desperate for.
You see people inherently want to be brought together, we all crave human connection, and this is where Rotary has positioned itself for 115 years. We give the offer of friendship, the offer of help, the offer of making a tangible difference. We carry out service, we help communities and Rotary has so many opportunities for someone to make a real difference in so many different ways that it makes Rotary appealing. To me, this is still what makes Rotary relevant, this is what makes it special.
For us to stay relevant we need to keep up with what is going on in the changing world around us, because if the changes in the world outpace our organisation, then the end is nigh my friends. It is true that we must recognize the importance of tradition and the past that came before us and Rotary’s established history that is so full of rich examples of service around the world is definitely a draw for people.
But clubs must be adaptable going into the future in order to stay relevant and in order to attract new members or partnerships. We need to be adaptable and flexible in terms of the projects we choose to become involved with, who we help and how we contribute. We have to make sure that what we are doing is important and relevant in our local community, and actually fills the need that the local community wants instead of the attitude of “this is something we’ve always done so we’re going to keep doing it”.
You see, I find most Rotarians, certainly those from the “Western World”, think of the relevance of Rotary from the perspective of helping the poor, disadvantaged, and all the humanitarian work we do in developing countries. There is no doubt our work in these areas is relevant and needed. The problem is when we ONLY talk about the things like Polio eradication, clean water, basic health care or the humanitarian work to a local audience who doesn't see Polio, and takes clean water or basic health care for granted - because we have all of that in the “Western World”.
