My humble apologies and non-profit lessons to be learned

Some people say that good intentions are really what life is all about. You know what I mean. Those people are the ones who will say that it doesn’t matter what the holiday or birthday gift is . . . all that matters is the intention behind the gift. Then you have those people who say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Who’s right? Who knows!

A week ago, I went into a full out sprint with the contracts I’m currently working because I needed to catch a plane to Mesa, AZ for a father-son vacation at the Chicago Cubs baseball spring training.

I had a lot of really good intentions:

• I intended to pre-write my blog posts
• I intended to line up some nice guest blog posts
• I intended to do what I’ve done over the last three years, which is not miss a beat when it comes to blog posts

Obviously, I failed on all accounts. I ditched last Monday and Tuesday as I tied up loose ends and raced to catch my Wednesday plane. I’ve been in Mesa for the last five days, and couldn’t get back on the horse. Today represented the sixth day that I should’ve published something and just didn’t get it done.

While this will likely sound like an excuse, I think I just reached a point where I needed to relax and go on vacation. Ooops!

Moral to the story

There is nothing wrong in my opinion with taking a break; however,  I believe I owed it to you and the other readers of this blog to explain that I was going dark for a few weeks.

I suspect many non-profit people end up in the same dark place (often called burnout) that I currently find myself. When this happens, it is important to:

1. Find time (e.g. vacation or time off) for yourself before it becomes acute
2. Tell those to whom you feel a responsibility that you are taking a little time

My time-off request

Dad and I are still in Mesa watching painful practice games by the Chicago Cubs (ugh. . . they look brutal). When I return from vacation mid-week, I hit the road right away.

So, for those of you who like the daily grind of posts from DonorDreams blog, I owe you an apology. I don’t have it in me to start blogging again until Monday, March 31, 2014.

Sorry!

For those of you who are tired of hearing my babble . . . enjoy the break and vacation.  😉

Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
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