July 9, 2012 Club Bulletin
07/09/12
Last meeting: (June 26, 2012) Soon to be ex-president, Jamie Bunn made the announcement that this was his last official meeting. The announcement was met with mixed reaction from the very pro-Jamie crowd.
Jamie, thanks for a job well done. We look forward to the coming year with in-coming president Chris Nelson.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Janet Nelson: Announced that the club would be helping collecting school supplies for West Des Moines students through July. You can bring items to Janet or make cash donations.
Member Mark Reed appeared in the paper with a big picture concerning the recent special Olympics. Congratulations on a job well done.
Chris Nelson announced he recently received a check from member Todd Millang for the net profit from the orange juice stand so far this year. After paying expenses including our one-time licensing fees and other related matters, we netted a profit of over $2,000.
Keep up the good work and please take this opportunity to remind a couple of people to sign up for shifts.
Three minute/Sgt. @ Arms: Member Joe Shupp gave a brief biographical review. Joe is a life-time Des Moines resident and has been a physician practicing in internal medicine for 29 years. Joe attended Creighton University where he met his wife of 32 years. Joe and his wife have 5 children ranging in age from 21 – 31 years of age.
PROGRAM:
Speaker, Cal Meuzelaar was introduced by member Mike Foss. Cal is the director of Iowa Services for Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. Cal has served Pine Rest since 1983 in a variety of clinical and administrative roles. Cal gave a presentation based upon hardiness and resilience. Studies have shown that people have a higher quotient of hardiness or more resilient to stress in their life. He talked about ways that a person could build up their hardiness or resiliency. An excerpt from Cal’s handout is below.
HARDINESS and RESILIENCE
Managing Stress Instead of Stress Managing You
HARDINESS COMPONENTS
Personality hardiness, or resiliency, involves beliefs about yourself, your world, and the way the two interact. The particular beliefs essential to personality hardiness and resilience are the four C's.
1. COMMITMENT: People strong in COMMITMENT enjoy and value themselves and their world. They find it easy to involve themselves in whatever they are doing, feeling that it has something of interest and importance. They're engaged in their lives. COMMITMENT means having a purpose to life and involvement in family, work, community, socially, religiously etc.
2. CONTROL: People strong in CONTROL (boundaried healthy control) believe they can influence what is going on around them and are ready to act on that belief. Internal versus external locus of CONTROL. Serenity prayer.
3. CHALLENGE: People strong in CHALLENGE think that what's important about their lives is development and growth, rather that static comfort and security. Such people anticipate changes as a stimulus to personal growth rather than a threat to comfort and security. Change is an opportunity to embrace rather than an obstacle to avoid. CHALLENGE is about how we perceive the events that occur in our lives; seeing our difficulties as a challenge rather than as a threat and accepting that the only thing in life that is constant is change.
4. CONNECTION: People strong in CONNECTION, also called an active social support network receive encouragement and assistance from others. This social support helps them to deal decisively with stress. This support doesn't merely distract them or over protect them from stress. This is supportive people who are willing to speak the truth in love to you and you're willing to receive it.
INCREASING HARDINESS
It's not complicated, but it does require practice.
1. ASSESS: Am I stressed (thoughts, emotions, physiology and behaviors, and if so what's it about?
2. ADDRESS, DON'T AVOID: Face it. Lean in, don't lean out. Don't fight or flee.
3. ACT:
a. Breathe.
b. Practice the serenity prayer.
c. Review your life balance/beliefs on the four "C's."
*Adapted from "Hardiness Training" concepts developed by Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa.
SERENITY PRAYER
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
Thanks for a great program.