During a recent session my therapist asked me, “Why don’t you just do it then?” His question followed my ramblings about a dream idea I’ve had for a couple of years now but haven’t really worked towards bringing to fruition. I’m still gnawing on the question for that situation but I’ve noticed how applicable that question is to many other areas of my life. For instance, I’ve been complaining for a while now about Lafayette’s lack of public use trails and the lack of upkeep on the one trail we have. A few days after my therapy session I had one of those outer body moments where I heard myself complaining (again) about the trail scene around Acadiana but had the audacity to say back to myself, “Why don’t you do something about that then?”

Kate Durio, Assistant to the Mayor- President at Lafayette City Government, spoke at TEDxVermilionStreet last year on “How One Small Step Can Make a Big Difference in your Neighborhood”. In her talk she discussed how it’s easy to fall into the mindset of “they” will take care of it. It’s “their” responsibility. Her talk struck a cord with me then and further resonated during my conversation with my therapist. Who is this “they” that I think will magically take ownership of the maintenance and building of trails in Acadiana? The government has a lot of priorities and little money to handle that growing list of priorities. They certainly have representatives that support private citizens leading the charge but just where are those darn private citizens? Oh, right, that is me. And all of my running friends. And all of my friends that like to walk their dogs. And those that like to bike instead of drive everywhere.

While, I’m not ready to launch my dream idea quite yet, I am ready to explore and learn about how to be more engaged to help shape the community that I want to live in. Hopefully, I’ll be able to report back with progress!