This training/orientation has been intense. We are in class from 8:45am to about 4pm and all this self reflection is mentally and emotionally exhausting. Thankfully the facilitators are fantastic and this is by far the best training I have ever attended.
The first week we talked about building community, value awareness, cultural differences and conflict management. We ended the week discussing how our conflict management style varies with stress. The facilitator kept saying that if you aren't willing to grow in how you manage conflict then you shouldn't be doing a job like this. I can see why, it's so important to understand how to manage conflict and how your style changes with stress. Especially when in 3 weeks my whole life will be a state of change (stress) and it's going to take a long time to adapt.
This week we are talking about adversity, stress and managing stress. They had us use the Holmes and Rahe Stress scale. The results are based on the number of times in the past 12 months you have experienced these 43 life events. The events include a wide array of items ranging from death of a family member to school starting/ending. Needless to say the majority of the group, myself included scored above a 300. This equals a life crisis stage of severe and indicates that the probability of us experiencing a deterioration in our health is 79%. The type of deterioration in health depends on how well we manage stress. Lets hope that I fall into the 21% that won't experience a health deterioration.
After the first week, I was so thankful that our weekend was free. On Saturday, I went with a couple and their 3 boys to Pike's Peak. It was amazing!! We drove, we didn't hike up to an elevation of 14,110 feet. The temperature on the top was 48 degrees, at the bottom it was 84 degrees that day. There was still small patches of snow and we had a small now ball fight. I can say with a high level of confidence that I have never had a snow ball fight in August before. I attached a photo of the view from the top but it hardly demonstrates how beautiful it is.
As informative as this training is, I'm reaching my limit of self evaluation. I apologize to those of you I have called. Please forgive me for encouraging you to reflect and evaluate what's important in your life. The end of this week the topics get "lighter" and we should be able to chat about such exciting things as how the Yankee's swept the Red Sox =)
Keep Smiling,
Jen
