French & French Manicures

I’m reading an interesting thread on the forums about value of membership, and whether to renew or not. I think it's reasonable to claim that I've had more than my fair share of unkind treatment from members during my years of service. I am a life member, but even so, I can certainly quit, or at the very least, stop attending events, refrain from participating in forum discussions, and refuse to lift a finger. But I'm staying. After thinking about it for a while I came up with two main reasons: commitment and self-definition

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Commitment

I ended up with a degree in French; I stuck it out for nearly a decade, even though I hated every class I took after the first one in 7th (I had a crush on Monsieur Russell). It started out with such potential and excitement. And for a few subsequent years, I just kept hoping the boredom and frumpy teachers were anomalies and that it would surely get better next year. By the time I realized that Monsieur Russell was the anomaly, I'd already put in so much time that if I'd quit, all the suffering through Mesdames Vieille and  Ennuyeuse would have been for naught. The effort wasted. So I stuck it out and eventually ended up, believe it or not, as a French teacher. Yeah, the universe is a funny place.

Mensa... it's little like that. I've put so much into it, that if I quit now, all my work will be for nothing. Without really doing so consciously, I made a commitment to learning French.

A few years ago, when I became a life member, it was not because I was crazy rich, nor because I figured it'd be a wise investment (we really did run the numbers regarding estimated investment returns on the money versus estimated inflation of dues rates). I became a life member as a commitment to the organization. So just as people stay in rocky and and stressful marriages, screaming when it's really bad and helping to rebuild after a setback, I'm staying.

Self-Definition

The second reason I stay is the same reason I spend stupid money on my fingernails. I don't need them. They make it hard to open things. None of my friends even notice them anymore. My career as a hand model is never going to take off.  But to me, they have become part of my self-identity. I have long hair, glasses, and manicured nails.

I'm a Mensan, as I have been for nearly half my life. It's part of who I am.