Cinnamon Challenge!

This is hilarious! Try it for yourself if you'd like and make sure to video it! Also, don't forget to have a tall glass of water on hand! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V7ZlbQBnC-g

10. Self Care

A leader who can be characterized as exhibiting little self-care would be Georgina.  She let the difficult times get the best of her, to the point where she may not have been caring for herself in the way that she should have.  Instead of balancing her time between herself and the people she was leading, she spent too much time worrying about the problems and the people involved than herself.  Her spiritual life went downhill; she just wasn't setting aside time daily to be with God because it seemed like there was just too much to do and think about. This really caused her to stumble, but it took her a while to realize why that was. She also become too involved emotionally in the trials going on in other people's lives, that it was affecting her daily life. She began to worry too much what people were thinking of her and began to be discouraged.  She saw herself as a failure and began to become burnt out.  She wasn't able to give much because she didn't have much left.

An example of a leader who has exhibited good self-care would be Susana.  At the beginning of her leadership position things were going great.  She felt like she was really growing and learning a lot.  Then things started happening and soon there was more difficulty than she could have ever expected.  However, she knew that being in leadership would be a sacrifice, so she continued to press on and do her best.  She also knew that her time with God each day was vital, so she made sure that was a priority.  She did have times where things frustrated her and discouraged her, but she always had a peace that surrounded her.  She was always positive and striving to be better, and didn't dwell on the things she messed up on.  She continued to grow, even in the time of hardship.

Bad self-care is when the problems become self-centered and begin to affect how a leader sees themselves. It is when they lose focus of the goal and of the task on hand.  It is when they dwell on the bad and pass up the good moments.  These people are negative and down on themselves, thinking they are failures and spending too much time blaming rather than fixing.

Good self-care is exhibited by people who are consistent, even when life situations are not.  They are resilient and continue to have a good attitude even when times are hard.  They do not dwell on their mistakes, but strive to be better. They keep up on the things that are important to them and do not let their emotions get the best of them.

I can definitely learn from these examples. I think I posses qualities from both sides. I need to continue to grow in the consistency area and striving towards being better rather than things I can't fix.

9. Leadership then & now

My idea of leadership when I was in elementary school was basically seeing leaders as authority.  I knew that they were in charge and that I had to listen to them.  People in leadership over me were "cool," and I looked up to them.  As a kid, I never really saw their perspective of things.  I saw their position as their job, so they must love it and they must be good at it.  I never really thought about how hard it could and all the challenges they would face.  Now that I'm in leadership and I'm a lot older, I see things from their perspective.  For leaders over me, I am the kind of person who notices when they may be struggling or when things could be hard for them.  As a leader myself, I know from experience how hard it is to be a a leader sometimes.  I see leadership as less of something you are born into and more of something you work towards.  I am learning everyday what it means to be a leader.  I see leadership as less than just an authority and more of a time of challenge and growth.  Maturity with age is one cause for the shift.  I have grown older and am more aware of other people.  I see people as more than just their position.  I've also shifted my thinking because I have become close to some of the leaders in my life and gotten to know a little more about what it means to them to lead.  Also, I am a leader now myself, and I am learning different aspects to leadership that I never would have thought of.  It is such a sacrifice, and so much more than being in "authority" over people.  It is a lifestyle.  To be an effective leader, you can't just see it as a position, you must see it as a way of living.  You have to be in 100% or not at all.