Discouragement

No matter how much you care about a cause or something that you are involved in, there do come points where you find yourself pausing to wonder what it's all about and why you keep on pressing forward.
Take my town. It's quite small. It doesn't have MEGA problems, but lots of smaller ones. I've lived here for 3 years and got very involved. I've always cared passionately about things. It doesn't matter what I am involved in, it's always important to me. So I start to dream big dreams for my town and, as I firmly believe that one person can make a difference, I begin to push forward. I talk the town up, I write the town up, I discuss things with people positively and I get involved in decision making in the town. It's hard work but I accept that. I know the road is not easy and that other people won't always want to go in the same direction. I go to meetings, I ring people. I email people. I feel that things are beginning to change then...
A local man who has been giving out dog poo bags to fellow dog walkers runs out of bags and asks me where he can get some more. I phone the council (who normally give away free dog bags from council offices) and they have run out. Not only have they run out, but the whole county has run out, and we can't have any more because there is no one in post to agree the budget spend for more bags.
And then I wonder how I can possibly expect to make a difference in the town, if I can't even sort out the simple issue of dog poo bags!
That's what discouragement is, right there. It's not the big things that faze us, but small but seemingly insurmountable problems, that should in reality be so easy to fix.

Don't worry. It will take more that dog poo bags to throw me off track completely. I will sort out the dog poo bags, somehow, and then I'll get my attention back on trying to encourage local business!