Wow! Yesterday’s ropes course experience was awesome! Today I feel it! All in all, I felt like yesterday’s experience was a good one. I enjoyed working as a team and getting to know people better and gaining a stronger friendship with many of our teammates. When we first started the course and stood in the circle deciding what we wanted to get from the day’s experience, I feel like I was able to get exactly what I wanted and what was best for me *Snap* Snap* (that’s me doing my thang!). I had a lot of fun and felt really focused on the present. During lunch I pulled out my phone to check calls and Becki kindly reminded me to put it away. That is another thing that I noticed was the great proof that I have of the great support I have around me. It is hard to pick which activity I liked the most because they all were really good. Becki would definitely like to jump out of the tree and grab onto that ring! Today Alex told me he would like to start out his day jumping for that ring. I think that would be a great exercise for all of us to do as far as envisioning ourselves letting go of our old beliefs and taking that leap of faith into our true selves.
Well, I guess I will just go through the activities one by one and share some of my thoughts and the things that I took away from the exercise.
The Helium Pole
Initially when I saw the activity I immediately thought, “This should be a piece of cake. It is a flimsy, light pole.” All we have to do is bring the pole down to the ground with all of us touching the bottom of the pole with two fingers and nobody letting go. But, once we started it became a lot bigger challenge. It really started getting a frustrating because everybody kept blaming everybody else. There were a couple of times when things were calm and we were trying as a team to accomplish our task together and it felt like we were getting so close to finishing. The exercise took way too long and I was doing my best to stay 100% present *snap*snap*. I gave some suggestions on what we could do and supported others when they had ideas. I felt that Brad did a great job taking the lead and Gerald, too. Doug and Jamie kept prompting us to guarantee our results by not trying the same thing that we had done previously. In the moment it was hard to see how easily we could have accomplished the task just by trying something different each time and sticking with the things that worked for us. That is what I took from this activity is that we need not worry about failing. There are millions of ways to accomplish something (reach a goal). It is insane to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. By taking time to analyze past experiences and trying new things, we can get to our destination faster.
The Dragon Pooh Pit
This exercise really made me think about my team and how it sucked to lose a member of it whenever somebody disintegrated from touching the dragon poop. It made me think about the disappointment I felt on the first day when Wyatt and his wife didn’t show up to coaching, or anybody else for that matter from our Power of Choice weekend. It also was frustrating to have team members not voice their concerns, or just going out and doing something on their own without accepting support from the team. I think we all have that tendency to want to do things on our own to show our manliness, or something like that. It’s not in independence that empowers us, it is interdependence. All of us working together. I also realized the importance of my buddy, Alex. There were times during the exercise when I was handicap and couldn’t use my right arm. A few of our teammates came close to falling into the “pit of doom”, but I grabbed hold of them with my one arm and pulled them back to safety. I know that Alex is there for me and I am there for him, no matter how inadequate we may feel we are at times, we can be that support and help each other focus during times when it is hard to focus.
The Leap of Faith
Now, I have never been a fan of heights. I use to climb up on our roof and fix the shingles, and there were a couple of times I came pretty close to falling off the roof when I was a teenager. I believe that is where I got my fear of heights. Well, when I looked up at the platform, again, I thought, “Piece of cake!” It didn’t appear to be that far up there. The ring looked close enough to the platform that I could almost reach up and grab hold of it. I was about the third person to climb up the tree. Alex was there to support me all the way up. So was Becki and all of the rest of the team. I climbed up the tree with little complication. Once I got up to the top I started feeling a little unsure about the whole idea of jumping. I looked down at the guy from CLAS and thought, “There is no way he is going to be able to hold me up here!” So, I hesitated. I looked up at the ring, and back down to the ground, and back up to the ring, and back down to the ground. Jamie asked me what I was jumping from and I said, “I am jumping from an unhealthy and imbalanced lifestyle.” And then he asked what I was jumping for and I replied, “I am jumping into a balanced lifestyle and I AM A LEAN MEAN 220 LB MUSCLE MACHINE!” I was ready to jump, but something inside me hesitated. I wanted dearly to let go and jump into that ideal me. So, I leapt. I grab hold of the ring and held myself there. It felt really good. My heart was beating so fast. It was awesome to watch everybody else on the team jump. Becki was the final person to go and she was great. She came so close to grabbing the ring. She just pulled back at the last second. But, she really surged forward from the platform and gave it her all. She said that she wishes we could have done that a couple of times. I agreed.
Lunch Break
We then took a small break for lunch. The reason I wanted to journal a little about this is because Becki and I came prepared. Instead of buying something unhealthy from Wendy’s we had a protein shake, beats, a granola bar, and mandarin oranges. It felt kind of nice pulling out my little container of fruit and my container of vegetables at the table. It definitely was easier to resist the fast food then it has been in a long time. I believe that it paid off later in the next exercises where I really put a lot of energy into helping others…well, you will see what I mean.
The Escape from the Germans
Our next exercise was for us to go over a 14’ wall as a team using nothing but ourselves. All of us were silent except for two of us, Jaread and Becki. Jaread and Becki both did an excellent job at leading us. All 13 of us were to go over the wall and only 3 people could be up at the top of the wall at a time. Once one of us was up on top for three times they had to come down. So, it was constantly rotating after we got a few people up on top. Well, this exercise really kicked my butt. I volunteered myself to lift everybody up on my shoulders and help support them as they climbed and were pulled to the top. The first couple of times we were unsuccessful and had to bring the person back to ground level. We recouped, thought of a different way, and tried it. Through trial and error we found a way that worked. The person would get a boost up from Becki and Jaread and would then use Phil and myself to stand on. Once the people at top had hold of their hands I would get down and Jaread would jump onto my back and would help push the person up even further until they were eventually over the fence. Jaread would then jump down and we would get the next person up. We took less than 30 minutes to do the exercise. I was happy to be able to support everybody over the wall. I learned that it is important to find the strengths of our team members and thrive off of those strengths. We are there to support each other and there are ways that each of us can do a little more than the next…naturally. Jaread was awesome during this exercise! He really kicked butt as a leader. Especially when he took charge and stopped asking questions. It seems like we all learned during this exercise that if there was something that we didn’t feel comfortable doing that we ought to communicate that concern instead of just going along with the idea. I was impressed with Jaread again when he and I were the last two at the bottom and he helped me get up first. Brad, Phil, and Becki were up at top and really came through for me by helping me get over the wall. I couldn’t have done it without them. Then Jaread was able to leap up and grab hold of the belts we were holding and we were able to get him up to the top with ease.
Pre-Trust Fall Exercise
The next exercise was in front of the wall, where we all gathered around silently and lifted each of us, one at a time, as a team. One person would lay down flat as a board on the ground and we would systematically lift the person up over our heads and gently bring them down to rest back on the ground. This was a great exercise, in that it was proof that we could hold up every single one of us with no problem. It was an easy exercise that proved to us that we can do a “perceived” difficult task because we have done it before.
The Trust Fall
We then went over to the trust fall where we took turns standing on a pole that was about 3 feet tall and falling backwards and the team catching us. When we caught the person we held him/her there and we went around and told them some positive things about themselves. It was a very cool exercise! When I fell back and heard all of the nice things that everybody was saying about me I really felt on top of the world! I felt the love and support from everybody and it felt really genuine. I couldn’t help but think about just how awesome each one of the people on our team, the coaches, and the facilitators are to be around and to work with. Each one of us has such a uniqueness to bring to the table. Alex’s words meant a lot to me. He is a terrific buddy and a great friend. It is hard to believe that we have only known each other about a month. He is such a stud! Doug’s comments also meant a lot to me. The freight train analogy felt good. Jamie’s thoughts meant a lot to me as well. I feel like I have a great opportunity in my life to be a leader and I take that responsibility reverently and with respect. I have had great leaders in my life (parents, teachers, coaches, peers) and I believe it is all preparation for what is ahead of me. Jamie is one of those leaders I really respect and praise for his devotion and integrity. Becca’s words were nice to hear as well. She is an awesome coach! I felt really empowered hearing her comments on my hard work. Gerald’s words also were sweet to the ears. He is such a gentle, and genuine man. He is so pleasant and so refreshing to be around. I was happy to hear from so many others in the team as well. Becki’s comments were super awesome! She does tell me often how she feels and what she sees in me. I feel fortunate to have a wife and best friend like her.
The Blind Walk
This was a relaxing exercise. We were all blindfolded and were lead around the premises while holding onto a rope with one hand and holding the shoulder of the person in front of us with the other hand. Becki was in front of me and Donna was behind me. As we were walking I closed my eyes (I couldn’t see anyway), and just felt a nice peace come over me as I held onto the rope, onto Becki’s shoulder, and calmly followed behind her maneuvering around different objects as she went before me. It felt like a good 10-15 minute walk. When we took the blindfolds off I felt like I had been sleeping because the light was hard on my eyes. I felt like this exercise helped us understand a couple of things. One, that we are not alone in this journey on unknown territory. We have people working through the same obstacles, challenges, or facing the same barriers. The people ahead of us represent those that have made it through those things and we can learn from them with our connection with them. Even though the obstacle may be something we have never experienced, just by feeling the shoulder of the person in front of us we understood a little about what to expect and how to best maneuver around the obstacles. I felt like I was in good hands with Becki leading me and Donna holding onto me as well. I also feel like it taught us to trust those coaches and facilitators who can see, or understand, what is just ahead of us. They are there to walk us through, over, or around whatever obstacles we may run into.
Pow Wow at the Tee-Pee
We finished the day at the tee-pee (German Prison) and took turns going around and telling about something we learned, or will be taking with us from the day. Everybody shared their thoughts and feelings and I was one of the last. There were a lot of good things that I learned, and at the time, there were a lot of things that just had not been fully processed yet. But, I said that the things that stuck out to me during the day was how awesome it feels to be able to support other people, and how fantastic it feels to allow others to support me. I tend to be one that doesn’t accept the support because I want to do it on my own. I realize that is something that I want to give up. I want to have those around me support me. So many people are willing to do that. Becki is great at doing it, and I realize there are many times, especially with work, where I don’t accept, or even ask, for that support. So, that is something I am going to change. The guy from CLAS gave a great analogy about the world CAST. There are two ways to look at it. One, is the term used in fishing. You cast your line and reel it in. The second, is like casting a stone off of a mountain cliff. When it is cast, you forget about it! It is gone. He related that to the things that we were casting out of our lives. We want to cast them over those cliffs and forget about them. It is easy to want to reel them back in because of our comfort levels and because its familiar to us. But, in order to break free, and really empower ourselves, we want to cast the old beliefs out of our lives (creating a vacuum) and replace them with new beliefs that we embrace.
Thank you Doug, Jamie, Becca, Linda, and Julie for a great day at the Ropes Course. So many wonderful lessons to pull away from the experiences we had. One, don’t be around Rose when she is jumping out of trees. She starts cursing like a trucker. J She is awesome! We love you Rose!
Chris
I AM A LEAN MEAN 220 LB MUSCLE MACHINE. I AM 100% COMMITTED! I AM A TREE JUMPER AND RISK TAKER!
