Junior League of Monmouth County 2014-2015 #SayYes #JLMonmouthCounty #JLMC

Say Yes!

Lately I’ve noticed that I have been getting the same message over and over again. I read article after article, listen to motivational speeches, and hear from my friends that as women we need to learn to say no! Say it loud and clear, I am told. They even teach you different ways to politely say no when you are asked to participate in things. We are busy women with careers and family and we cannot spread ourselves too thin. We need to be more focused on ourselves, right?

We clearly can’t say yes to everything but we can’t say no to everything either. If we say no to everything, all that would be left is our daily routine. Yet it still gets a little confusing sometimes.

There comes a time in all of our lives when we are presented with an opportunity to take part in something greater than ourselves. We can chose to follow that advice in the articles and say no loud and proud or we can step outside of the box and say YES. For me, that time was when I was asked if I wanted to join Junior League of Schenectady and Saratoga Counties NY, where I was living at the time.

When the opportunity to join the League was presented to me, I was not quite sure about it all. The meetings were in a town that was about 30 minutes away, they did a lot of things on the weekend, how was this really going to benefit me….and the “NO” list grew. I took a moment and read the Junior League mission. I read statements that included “developing potential of women,” “improving communities,” and “catalysts of lasting community change,” and began to realize the opportunity that I was about to walk away from.

Thinking about my life, I realized that every special moment happened at a time when I’ve said, “YES.” And with that, I joined the Junior League.

Ever since that time I have said yes to; remodeling a room at the YWCA women’s shelter, serving lunch at the local soup kitchen, helping to weed the community garden at the Boys and Girls Club, teaching a self-esteem workshop for teenage girls, chairing a fundraising event and the list goes on. But I also said yes to; learning leadership skills, being an agent of change, learning management skills, meeting incredible women some of whom are now my best friends.

So you can see why when I moved from NY to NJ I quickly sought out the League here in Monmouth County. Although I have only been a member of the Junior League of Monmouth County for a few months, I have already said yes to so many new opportunities. My Yes experiences continue to build and have helped me to become a better community member.

Heather Brown

Junior League of Monmouth County

The Junior League of Monmouth County (JLMC) membership has a wide range of backgrounds, interests and professional pursuits. They all share an interest in and a commitment to voluntarism. Each member has her own personal story of how the JLMC has made a difference. The JLMC is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving our community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The JLMC focuses on facilitating the empowerment of girls to become confident women.