Although, as we often mention, the most important duty of our
association is to protect the value of our property, the most important asset
within our community is not the property itself, but the members who make up
the association.
Without you, the homeowner/resident, our
community is nothing more than a collection of buildings, landscape and
asphalt. As members of the community, homeowners bring their own individual
tastes, likes, dislikes and preferences into the community. It is that
diversity that makes our community interesting and full of life.
It is also that diversity that creates
the need for commonly accepted guidelines in order to help everyone get along
and pursue a collective goal: peaceful and harmonious community living that
benefits the investment we have in the
community.
By recognizing the diverse makeup of our
most valuable assets, the homeowner members, each of us can begin to understand
the need for commonly accepted rules and regulations, architectural guidelines
and the need for a Board of Directors made up of a cross-section of homeowners
in order to represent the full spectrum of individual tastes and concerns.
Without that understanding it is easy to become distracted and concern
ourselves with the loss of individual freedoms and distaste of conformity that
some associate with association living.
In order for our community to develop to
its fullest potential, each and every one of us must develop an appreciation of
the others who make up our community. And with that appreciation will come a
desire to contribute to each other's well-being within the community. We can
choose to embrace the potential of our association and work within its
framework to create an atmosphere of peaceful, harmonious living, or we can
choose to ignore that potential and view our association as a hindrance in our
own pursuit of unbridled happiness. Either way, we alone have the power to
create the perceptions that we embrace. If you don't appreciate the benefits
created by our community guidelines, then those guidelines will never be
respected.
The key to successful association living
is to recognize the benefits provided by living within an association and
accept that certain behaviors and actions detract from those benefits. By doing
so, we are able to contribute to the success of our association, our community
and ultimately our own investment we have made in our property.
Likewise, successful association living
also relies heavily upon recognizing those behaviors and actions that enhance
the benefits of living within an association. Conforming to community
guidelines, active participation in association activities such as committees
and the board of directors, and choosing to attend board meetings in order to
understand the issues that face our association are perfect examples of how
each and everyone of us can contribute to the betterment of our community.
Our association may be legally
obligated to preserve, protect and enhance the common assets of the
association, but in order for our association to do that, we must also
recognize the value of its most important asset: you the homeowner. Without
your cooperation, support and involvement, our association cannot succeed. The
investment each of us have in our property demands that cooperation, support
and involvement. To neglect that responsibility is to neglect our investment,
and few of us can afford to do that!
