Norval

On October 19, 2009 our middle school went to Norval for a team building day.

After a long drive thanks to traffic, we arrived at the colourful forest entrance. We then split into our different grades and played games that had to do with team building. The first was the Inuit blanket toss: where we would toss someone into the air and catch them using a big, reinforced tarp. For the second, we divided our grade in half and went either into the forest or out into the clearing. My team went to the high ropes course to do “Mission Impossible” where one of us wore a harness attached to four ropes and the rest of us would pull on those ropes to move that person around, without touching the ground. Finally, we had to climb a 14 foot wall with only the help of our peers. That was our day in a nutshell, but that was just what happened. What happened as a team is much different.

Being a team is very important; if we don’t work together things can go bad. For the Inuit blanket toss we all did pretty well except for a few minor lapses, such as not pulling the tarp out at the same time. In “Mission Impossible” it went very well except for when Emilie was in the harness. She went as high as the rig could go because two of the four sides pulled as hard as they could without telling everybody else. When we got to the wall, we were tired but we did try very hard. Greg and I did most of the lifting of other people, until they were over the top of the wall. The people at the top had to help pull them up, and because there was a lapse of communication only one person fell. Don’t worry that person was caught! (Somewhat) I think overall we did pretty well as a team except for communication between us.

Norval taught me that there are two sides to team building activities: the physical and the mental. The physical side is fairly easy; if I have to pull on a rope, then I pull on a rope, no big deal. The mental side is the risk taking, communicating, and trusting your peers. Personally, I found trust and communication to be the hardest part of being on a team. So now if I do another team building activity, I will know what I have to work on.

Tiny Wonders

At this time of year, the leaves always fall to the ground. It gives the ground wondrous colours of scarlet, amber, and citrus. Some of the leaves land on grass, or rocks, but some fall into water. Sometimes that water is shallow and doesn’t move, and you can see straight to the very bottom. If the leaves sink, the colour fades, but somehow they’re still magnificently littering their colours to the lakebed.

All it takes is one tiny stone to be thrown into the pond, and everything changes. The one stone causes waves to spread out from the epicentre, distorting the beautiful scene underneath. Witnessing this event, I found myself at a loss for words despite the simplicity of the situation. After pondering it all for while, I realized that you can look at it two ways: all it takes is something very small to ruin a great picture, or alternatively, one little object can open your eyes to what is actually happening. Small wonders can sometimes be the biggest.

Rock, Paper, Scissors and Tai Chi

“Softness conquers hardness” Principle of Tai Chi

This quote may seem bizarre when you first hear it, but it makes a lot of sense. Say you’re in a conflict; trying to resolve it with words (the soft approach) rather than fighting (the hard approach) works better to solve the problem. In fact, just recently Barak Obama won the Nobel peace prize for getting countries at war to talk to each other instead of just shooting at one another. Even though almost everyone has been told that talking things out works best (to a point that is almost annoying) it really is the best. Keeping all of this in mind can really help you if trouble does arise.

Personally, when I hear this quote I think of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The soft, flimsy paper beats the sheer, hard might of rock every time. Something else that pops into my mind is the idiom “You’ll catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.” I always find there is a hidden meaning to many sayings; like in the one right above, it’s not just a tip for catching flies, but a way to be a better person. The quote at the top is a bit more direct but I still believe there is a deeper meaning, can you figure it out?

A Strange World

We live in a strange world where people spend millions of dollars on stuff they don`t need while other people don`t have a thing to eat or drink. One example of this problem is in Africa where the closest water sources to some villages are kilometres away. The villagers (mostly women) have to walk all that way to get to the water, but the same water they drink is the water people bathe in, wash clothes in, clean their livestock in, and go to the washroom in. This dirty water could wreak havoc on someone`s immune system. Problems such as this are what make this world a strange place but if we all did little things to help, then life would be easier for everyone.

Millions of people live on both sides of life. On our side, we have access to food and water whenever we want. We are worried about little things like what to wear, while many people only have one thing to wear. Almost all of us are greedy; we spend millions of dollars on the lottery when almost none of us win it. And the sad thing is: with all the money made from lotteries around the world, we could eliminate world hunger and more!

Despite many people ignoring the issue, there are those who are taking action. More and more food banks for the homeless are being set up, wells are being built in Africa so that it’s easy for people to get clean drinking water, and the list goes on no matter how small the good deed. You can help make a difference too by spreading the word of an organization like World Vision or Free The Children for one thing. Another way to help is to volunteer your time for charity services such as a food bank. If all 6.9 billion people on this planet did their part, not only would life be much better for everyone, but as a species we could do so much more.