Curious about Involvement: In What and How Involved Are You?

“The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.” - Martina Navratilova, American athlete

Martina’s quotation is humorous, but also sums up perfectly the difference between involvement and commitment. I chose the theme involvement for this week’s blog, because I find that it is so easy for me to become over involved in volunteer activities. Yes, I think it is great to be known for one’s commitment to an organization or group, but when it starts to drain you and take you away from your involvement in your own business, you should consider pulling back.

That’s what I am working on doing now.

If you are at all like I am, I find it hard to say, “No” when asked to volunteer, to run for a club office, to write an article – or even to edit a newsletter, to be membership chair or any other time consuming position. And, I have done them all. I rationalize that they will help me become known and then, in turn, help my business. And they do. But I suggest that we must find a workable and productive balance.

The quotations I found cover a wide range of types of involvement, so here goes:

• “Family involvement is a valuable thing and playing together actively can be the '90s version of it. Instead of just watching, you can do it together... something we don't spend enough time on. We can motivate and excite each other about fitness.” - Alan Thicke, Canadian actor
• “I love children, and most of my involvement now has to do with children or youth programs.” - David Dinkins, American politician
• “I recognized that teaching and research institutions vitally depend on the involvement of active scientists also in management functions.” - Richard Ernst, Swiss scientist
• “I recommend limiting one's involvement in other people's lives to a pleasantly scant minimum.” - Quentin Crisp, English writer
• “Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of my involvement with public art is a continuation of wall drawings.” - Sol LeWitt, American artist
• “Past conference topics have included strengthening the role of fathers in children's lives, the impact of the media culture on children, the delicate balance between work and family, and family involvement in education.” - Tipper Gore, American celebrity

And, a few more:

• “The printed page conveys information and commitment, and requires active involvement. Television conveys emotion and experience, and it's very limited in what it can do logically. It's an existential experience - there and then gone.” - Bill Moyers, American journalist
• “We have to provide good teachers, good environment, community involvement with schools.” - David Selby, American actor
• “What people really want in the theater is fantasy involvement and not reality involvement.” - Edward Albee, American dramatist
• “A good basic selling idea, involvement and relevancy, of course, are as important as ever, but in the advertising din of today, unless you make yourself noticed and believed, you ain't got nothin'.” - Leo Burnett, American businessman
• “Democracy is the only system capable of reflecting the humanist premise of equilibrium or balance. The key to its secret is the involvement of the citizen.” - John Ralston Saul, Canadian author
• “As all of us with any involvement in sports knows, no two umpires or no two referees have the same strike zone or call the same kind of a basketball game.” - Herb Kohl, American politician

So, how involved are you in your life? How? In what? I would love to hear from you.