Last week I was deep in the woods of south central Kansas with my son Kamin and so did not have an entry to post regarding the classes. However, due to many challenging circumstances and missteps by our hosting staff at the scout ranch, I was given many opportunities to breathe, find a smile and release my stress productively. Our motto for the week at camp was "adversity is inevitable, misery is optional". Several of the Scoutmasters visiting the camp found every opportunity to berate and verbally abuse the staff for their missteps and issues with managing the program. Many of us found this approach to be very unproductive and "un-scout like". We learned much later in the week that one of the camp directors had lost his house in a fire three weeks before the camp started. I cannot help but wonder if that little bit of knowledge would have changed the attitude and approach of those aggressive Scoutmasters.
We had many frustrations with the staff and although none of our Troop leadership took an aggressive approach to resolving the problems we faced with them, each of us seemed to have a little more forgiveness in our hearts once we learned this tragic news. For myself, as I reflect back, I can see how my perspective clearly shifted from judgment, annoyance and frustration to one of understanding and forgiveness. As part of my spiritual training, I have made it a goal to think of others as doing the best they can in that moment we cross paths. whether it be on the freeway, at the grocery store or summer camp, each of us is doing the best we can at any given moment in time. If we are stressed, frustrated or angry, our best may not look or feel very good to an outsider but it is none the less our best at that moment in time. When I am able to let this concept permeate my heart and thoughts in a given situation, I find that I have significantly more patience, compassion and a sincere caring for the person I am interacting with.
As the staff made it easy to find fault, I found it harder and harder to find compassion for them as the week worn on. There were many times that I found myself falling into the "poor us, bad them" game. I started looking for fault and placing it on a pedestal of shame to prance in front of my peers; each of us did this, in effect, commiserating in our misfortune. Late in the evenings, when all was quiet, I found myself with a bitter taste from these thoughts and actions. In my spiritual training, I have learned that when I become angry, annoyed, frustrated or perturbed, I am drifting away from a pure connection with spirit; effectively losing connection to my compassion and understanding. I found that learning about the fire tragedy helped me to reconnect with this positive energy and I immediately felt better. Then why had I spent most of the week in a stated of disconnect? I had very little sleep and was very tired, it was hot and humid, I felt bad for the boys not getting what they expected...yada...yada...yada... In retrospect, there are many reasons I can conjure up but it all boils down to just being human.
Next time, I will try hard to keep my perspective and trust that each person is doing the best they can in a given situation; just like I tried to do all week at camp. After all, I am only human...
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