Winding up - winding down...

Remember your classic vintage clock or watch with its wind-up mechanism? If you didn’t wind it up regularly it would wind down...unwind...and stop running. Well now, my calendar tells me that December is the looming month and this year is winding down. Or, perhaps we are winding up the year’s business. One thing is for certain; “the times, they are a-changin’.”

Sometimes “winding up” seems to mean getting ready for something, and yet at other times it seems to mean ending something. At times “winding down” implies negativity as in gradual loss of energy and motivation to continue a project while at other times there is implication of something positive as in preparing for rest and relaxation time.

Now, as this year winds down we must wind ourselves up for the new year to come. Not only do we face a new year, but we will confront a change in our agency leadership. Folks from all of our regions have begun to talk about a collective need for discussions regarding potential adjusted dimensions to our organization. One might say that we are winding down from a “business-as-usual” approach while winding up or gearing up to seeing the reality of this century’s world and what The Minnesota Senior Federation must be and look like in order to be usefully relevant.

Our founder, Peter Wyckoff, is winding up to winding down. His retirement from more than 30 years leadership of our organization into every corner and region of Minnesota is one of the changes in leadership to which I referred. Pete is perhaps considering winding down the frantic lifestyle his mission with us has required in lieu of winding into the potential comfort zone of “experienced advisor” to the world of advocacy organizations. Peter, though we will miss your daily physical presence, your legacy and spirit do continually guide our every effort. So after our watchmaker leaves the shop, we are left to run even more accurately above and beyond the clockmakers specifications. He did wind us up so we’ll not soon be winding down.