Throughout this year I would like for us to keep in mind three points that I will share with you today.

Chicken in every pot.

The chicken is for protein to help us focus. That focus is to allow you to understand the story of “the stem or the rose”. This was a story of a friend of mine who , because of alcoholism ,could only see the negative in every situation. Never seeing the beauty that life has to offer. What Jeff eventually learned was that life is a choice. You can choose to focus on the stem with it thorns and problems or you can focus on the beauty that the rose has to offer. Why do I tell this you story? It is because when visitors come to or club they almost always comment on how much fun this club is. They are commenting on the culture of our club, our personality, the feel they get from all of you. And I want to thank you for that. The reason we have this is culture is because you people are good. We don’t say that enough but I am saying it today. Your good and thank you for seeing the rose and the goodness in things So the take home message of point #1 is for the next year and hopefully forever whenever you are eating chicken take a moment to remember my buddy Jeff and recall- life is a choice - choose the rose not the stem. Stay healthy and good.

Be the Batman.

Let me explain. Of all the super heroes Batman is the best. He is a regular who recognized a need and has devised a way to help people and the city he lives in. Plus he has all the special gadgets, bat mobile, bat cave, utility belt. He had the bat phone before the i-phone. When you think about it that’s what we do here in this club-help the community and the people that live in it. We help with the food bank,  AYR, Boy scouts, high school scholarships, and on and on just to mention a few. So when I say-be the Batman-I mean be the person who helps others. We all know that it’s not so easy sometimes. When the sign up sheet for the hops and cops came around you have to decide on can you do it. Can you be the batman? A lot of things come into play. Will you be out of town? Do you have a conflict with another obligation, family or business? It’s not so easy. And when the time comes to do your shift and help out it’s still not easy. You have to do something extra when perhaps sitting on your butt seems like more fun. That’s when I say thank you to you mild mannered people for adding something of value to this community, and I know you realize it ,your adding something of value to yourself. Be the Batman

Strengthen the core.

The core comes from a family term. It’s best defined as the center of my family meaning my wife, my three kids, their spouses, and the five, soon to be seven grandkids. These thirteen humans are what I call the - core. The core is where my heart is. All the people that I truly love. This club, I feel, is the core of Auburn. This clubs presence and it’s vitality is key to this fabulous community that we all live and work in. The fellowship that we have here and the good we accomplish is one of keys to defining what is beautiful about this place.

We have something special here.

We do something here that each and every city in this country would love to duplicate. And that is we treat each other as neighbors. Like we are all from the same neighborhood. It’s that simple yet beautiful and the envy of lots of cities. We together need to keep this alive-strengthen the core.

The last thing I want to say is a promise to all of you.I promise to be a fun person. That is what I call an- always. An always means every single time without exception for double and triple sure. I have a system that I learned from a coach years ago that makes this promise easier.

• Every day I laugh. I allow myself to experience fun and joy. That’s an always.
• Learn something new every day. This will help with growth and excitement. That’s an always.
• Be passionate. Every day find something to be passionate about so that it will create a buzz inside of you. It can be family, work, religion, anything. That’s an always.

If we can do these the three things every day we can make this a fun and productive year. Thanks.

It is GREAT to be in Kiwanis!

Dr Kim Anardi
kim@dranardi.com