Making it through life’s challenges

This has been a particularly busy few weeks for us in the Crouse Household. It seems like we have had something to do practically every night. Both Kevin and I serve on several local boards and with the start of the school year, we have been really busy working with those folks. Last night I had a dinner meeting with the teachers and staff of the Episcopal Day School in Clemson. The board (which I am chair) decided that it would be nice to have a get-together with the teachers and staff just to get to know them better. It seems like we spend so much time during the year working on the business side of the school that we forget what actually makes the school work – the teachers and staff.

The dinner was lots of fun. We all chipped in and all brought something. I was in charge of the meat lasagna. Trouble is – I made too much. Poor Kevin will be eating lasagna for a week!

After dinner, one of the board members did a team building exercise. He is a licensed counselor and does these types of things with lots of large groups. I really did not know what to expect. He pulls out 3 different groups of 2x4s. Each group had a small, medium and large length board. Hmm. This looked interesting. We were divided into 3 groups of 4. Each group had to travel across “lava” from one side of the room to the other. It was quite challenging as we all balanced and moved each board slowly and carefully across the “lava”. If anyone fell off, the entire group had to start over again. It took teamwork to plan and to work together to accomplish what on the surface seemed like a rather mundane task.

On the drive home, I got to thinking about my night’s activity. Every day, we try to make it across the “lava”. We all need help as we make it through the daily activities. I know that I am a much better parent because I know I have Kevin to depend on. I know that I am a better employee because I have co-workers that are there to help reach the company’s goals. Granted, we all have to be there to pull our own weight as well. I certainly cannot expect someone to carry me across the “lava”. That might make the whole team fall in.

So, I challenge each of us to work together. Perhaps we will be able to conquer our “lava”.