We all all have that one person that when they ask, we say yes. We all have that one band or author that when they put out something new, you get it, no questions asked. Sometimes, organizations can be the same way. I’m not talking about a particular store, but something bigger than that. Think Apple as an example.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
There’s a simple truth about organizations that shape us: when they ask you to serve, you say yes.
If you’ve been part of something meaningful—an institution, a program, a community—and you’ve grown because of it, learned from it, or benefited in ways you can’t fully quantify, then stepping up when you’re asked isn’t just a duty. It’s gratitude in action. You know firsthand what that organization gave you. Saying yes is how you pay it forward.
I was listening to a podcast recently, and this idea wasn’t just mentioned—it was the message of the entire episode. It got me thinking about Scouting.
I stepped away from Scouting for about fifteen years. Life happened, careers shifted. I was “too old” for the rhythm of weekly meetings and monthly campouts faded into the background. Mostly though, I didn’t have a kid in the program. For me, that was it. That was the thing that helped me get back into it. I found my way back. And when I did, I started from the beginning again—just an involved parent trying to help out.
From there, the familiar path unfolded: Den Leader. Assistant Cubmaster. Cubmaster. Wood Badge participant. PLC participant. Wood Badge staffer. NYLT staffer. District volunteer. The list goes on, as it does for most adult Scouters. We wear multiple hats, often at the same time, because once you’ve experienced the good Scouting can do, it’s hard not to give back.
We don’t say yes because we need another title. We don’t say yes because we are bored and need to fill our time (it’s only an hour a week). We say yes because we remember what it felt like to be shaped by this movement—its leaders, its adventures, its challenges, its values. We say yes because someone once said yes for us.
And now it’s our turn.
“Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.”