I don't know if your mind thinks like my mind does, but I usually am all over the map where one thing I see reminds me of this one thing that reminds me of the other thing and I start talking about it, totally randomly and my wife doesn't follow me at all...until I back up and explain how I got there. Well, this happened this morning when I woke up, it was foggy out which is strange weather for Colorado in the winter and that led me to the time I was solo camping in the back country just north of Santa Cruz, CA and I was praying and fasting before my first son was born. I guess that was my way of dealing with my nervousness of being a new father and hear from God what he wanted for my family. That thought then led me to how my perspective on life changed after our first child and that led me to thinking about students and how we can facilitate that perspective change to allow them to grow in character and integrity. Which leads me to the picture above, you see an experiential team building exercise that creates conflict and break down in trust. The goal of the group is to hold the tent pole on their two index fingers, the pole only resting on their fingers at all times...they must be touching the pole at all times and lower it to the ground. Usually what happens when I put the pole on their fingers one side starts going up, immediately, and then the group starts yelling at the side that goes up, people get defensive, communication breaks down...thus the conflict. The point of the exercise, in my opinion, is not to get the pole to the ground, but for the group to value each other regardless of what is going on. So, in the middle of struggle and conflict they can show love and communicate in a way they would want to be communicated to. Conflict is a part of life, we can not avoid it no matter who we are and if we can learn to turn conflict from negative into healthy conflict we have begun to grow in our relationships with each other. When the students I work with in detention centers start to get this, they start to understand God's unconditional love and treat others they way they would want to be treated. Their perspective changes which results in growth, spiritual and personal. It is so powerful! [I do not know the originator of this exercise above, if anyone knows let me know so I can give credit to the right person for this incredibly effective tool.]