On tea, goals and chocolate

I drink tea.  I drink herbal teas, black no sweeteners (unless there’s a cold sniffling and then a touch of local honey in with the lemon).  The United Way’s kitchen currently has…hang on I have to go count…19  kinds of herbal tea.  You could say we enjoy our tea around here.

I was advised by health professionals in 2005 to cut out caffine.  If you’ve ever met me….me on caffine is a scary prospect now, as it makes me energetic…more energetic than normal.  I do treat myself to the occasional cup of Bean Cellar dark roast, which has minimal caffine in it, but the smell is enough to bring you to tears of joy.

But this isn’t about tea.

Tea has a tiny bit of ceremony, those first few sips of a fresh cuppa are really hot, so you take a breather, be careful in the sipping and your mind contemplates the computer screen, taking a deep breath before once again engaging the keyboard in the fight for social justice…or a really funny status update or twee – hey at least I’m honest!

Reaching a goal has the same effect.  There’s a pause, there’s a moment where you step back and you look at that achievement.  You enjoy it, you are pleased, you encourage it to shine a little brighter. You hope it encourages others, you hope people only find joy and not measure their own success against it.

Reaching a goal also challenges you, you wonder did you set the target too low, looking ahead, do you move the target for next time, and if so, by how much, and are you up for that challenge?

But that consideration will come, now is the time to just sit back and stare at it.

Where does the chocolate come in you ask?  Anywhere!  Chocolate is a reward, a consolation, a treat, another reason to pause, a device to energize, the drug of choice for the not for profit world!  And when it’s lactose free….I get to enjoy it.

So I sit here with a hot cuppa tea, some lactose free dark chocolate…staring at a number….

$717 000

That’s $17 000 raised over goal…so far…taking a moment to enjoy the accomplishment!