My Rotary Journey - The Long and Winding Road

Previously published in Rotary International Magazine

As was the case with Paul Harris, people find their way to Rotary by a variety of different routes

The autobiography of Paul Harris is entitled My Road to Rotary. As the book explains, that road extended from Racine, Wisconsin, to Wallingford, Vermont, and on to Prince­ ton, New Jersey, and Des Moines, Iowa - whence, after earning a law degree, the book's author, as he put it, "made a fool of himself for five years" while roving across the United States and in "foreign lands," before finally settling (perma­nently, although still preserving aspects of his vagabond life) in Chicago, where he founded Rotary in 1905.

I began my journey toward Rotary nearly 30 years ago, far from home.

I'd been doing aid work overseas after finishing my studies at University College Dublin, situated in the city where I was born and grew up. My first posting was in Angola from 1995 to 1999. I was working with an Irish agency called Trócaire that placed me with Catholic Relief Services, a U.S.-based nongovern­ mental organisation with which Trócaire had established a global partnership. Angola was emerging - temporarily, it turned out - from a protracted civil war, and it was in the middle of a de­mobilization and many different peace initiatives. 

My time there was a fascinat­ing and intense experience. My work included helping with a program that distributed food and some nonfood items to warring parts of the country. It was well organised and rela­tively safe if you followed the security protocols. But land mines were a threat, and sadly, I did lose a couple of friends. I ended up staying with Catholic Relief Services and was allowed to go to ast Timor, now named Timor­ Leste. I worked there for about a year.

It had been very closed off for years, but now the country was separating from Indonesia, and the United Nations was administering a transitional government. Suddenly, many people from the interna­tional community arrived, and a lot was happening in a short pe­riod of time. We were rebuilding houses, distributing food, and establishing an ample justice and peacebuilding program. It was another challenging time because the people who lived there were emerging from difficult circumstances.

My next stop was Ethiopia, where I worked from 2000 to 2004. USAID had a long-established food program there, and we were the lead agency in distributing food to different places. The Ethiopians I met were wonderfully warm people. Just as I had seen in Angola and East Timor, I was struck by how large-hearted people can be, even when facing challenging circumstances.

I first encountered Rotary during my four years working in India. Catholic Relief Services had 12 offices, and I managed six of them. India is such a big country that you have everything under the sun there. All your senses are awak­ened, and everything is heightened. It's like living life with the volume turned up.

Catholic Relief Services was part of India's national polio eradication pro­gram, which 2005 was in its 10th year. We were working with the government and with different community mobiliz­ers, and I was amazed at the incredible partnerships that Rotary facilitated. I saw right away that Rotary was a very intel­ligent organisation. Its members seemed to know instinctively how to get to the source of a problem. They saw what needed to be done and brought together all the relevant stakeholders to ensure it was done correctly. They were very strategic and efficient, but they were also very human. All that left an indelible impression on me.

After 14 years, which concluded with four months in AIDS-ravaged Swaziland (now Eswatini), I came home to Ireland, expecting to stay only six months. I wanted to spend some time with my mother, who was sick. Since I had been overseas, my parents had moved from Dublin to Wexford, and after a while, I decided to remain there and reinvent myself. Moreover, I had seen the Rotary sign in town and thought, OK, I want to join.

Today, I pursue a variety of vocations. I consult with companies on corporate well-being programs, helping their em­ployees to be less stressed, more focused, and more engaged. I also work with individuals as a life coach and meditation teacher, helping them to build resilience and achieve peace, balance, and success at work and in their personal lives. In addition, I work with organisations that send people overseas to work in stressful environments; I support the well-being of their staff before, during, and after their deployment. I have been a proud member of the Rotary Club of Wexford for over seven years.

It's remarkable how so many aspects of Rotary align with the different things I have devoted my life to. The similarities between the projects I was involved in overseas and Rotary's many outstanding accomplishments worldwide are self-evident. However, even my work promoting personal well-being and the methods I recommend to achieve it parallels Rotary.

It may seem obvious, but problems get solved when people get along, and they don't when they don't. That's one of the things I appreciate about Rotary: the emphasis placed on friendship and fellowship. That un­derpins everything. It can transcend differences between people and differ­ences between cultures. Rotary makes everybody part of the human family - once again, extremely simple, yet very, very powerful.

It's not just about friendship and fellowship within Rotary clubs. Because of how Rotary members design their projects, everybody working on them comes together by following the tenets of The Four-Way Test. It's incredible how asking and honestly answering a couple of simple questions - Is it true? Is it fair to all concerned? It can unite people on a very constructive basis. And that's why Rotary is so successful, be­ cause everybody does come together. Those methods are not merely strategic but large-hearted and intelligent. The Four-Way Test's conception, design, and workings are genius on so many levels.

Which brings me to my current focus on people's well-being. Much of our well-being is based on good relationships, not just with our family and friends, but with society. That means not only the people we know but also the people we don't know: the people we bump into on the road, in the restaurant, or at the airport. It's impor­ tant that you have good relationships in those situations as well, and adhering to the principles behind Rotary can bring that alive for us in our daily lives.

The desire for good relationships and the values that sustain them are universal. I see them in action every time I engage with a Rotary member, whether here in Wexford or on my travels worldwide. Rotary sustains my well-being, even as it is good for society's well-being.

Here's another obvious fact: If you do things that make you feel good, do things every day that energise you, those acts help you to feel good about yourself. Every impulse in Rotary is toward doing good, be it in small club projects within our local communities or significant global endeavours in one of Rotary's areas of focus, led by the signature initiative to eradicate polio around the world. Talk about moments that can help people feel good about themselves.

It's important to remember that try­ing can be as important as succeeding. Without the attempt, there is no success. Granted, not every attempt will succeed as we had hoped or planned. That prompts me to offer a little advice - which, after all, is what I do.

Many people, especially the very conscientious, want everything to be perfect. When things aren't perfect, they focus on what's not perfect. Focusing too much on what is not "perfect" only adds to their stress, which can severely blow their well-being and happiness. That's no good for anybody.

You see only the problem. That negative concentration is a stressor, and you can become merely a worrier.

They say that anxiety comes from an unhealthy focus on the future and de­ pression from an unhealthy focus on the past. Meditation can be valuable: It connects you to the here, the now, and the moment. You have better-quality relationships and become more productive when you're in the moment. Once you get some momentum, you feel excited and happy. And that leads to accomplishing your most ambitious goals.

The difficulty comes into everybody's life. We are not immune to storms, but learning to weather those tough times makes us better equipped for what lies ahead. Straight roads need to make better drivers. They leave us poorly prepared for the more challenging highways we'll inevitably encounter.

The same applies if you successfully navigate life's switch­ backs, bends, and curves. The problems Paul Harris experienced and confronted as a child and young adult helped him create Rotary and transform his small Chicago club into a significant international force for good. And the things I en­ countered in my travels and work abroad help me be more fulfilled and engaged today.

In his autobiography, Paul Harris re­vealed his road to Rotary. Now you know mine—and you know why. Now that I have found my way to Rotary, I intend to stay there and thrive.

A member of the Rotary Club of Wexford, Ireland, and an assistant governor of District 1160, Calodagh Mccumiskey is the CEO of Spiritual Earth, which pro­ motes personal and professional growth through well-being.