BreakThroughs Participants Get an Attitude Adjustment
|
Author: Mary Ann Lopez Montrose Daily Press |
Taking a deep breath, letting go of fear and anxiety, a varied group of men and women focused on the goal right in front of them: breaking a 1-inch thick piece of pine in half.
The task required little physical strength of power, but demanded a positive attitude on the part of the person hitting the board.
Using the palm of their hands to break the boards was not part of a karate class; instead, it was a symbolic action used during a BreakThroughs in Attitudes seminar held Friday at the Montrose United Methodist Church. Nearly 70 people took part in the fund-raising event hosted by Hospice of the Uncompahgre Valley, Kaleidoscope and Montrose Memorial Hospital. Participants paid $100 each to take part in the seminar.
Money raised through the event helps fund cancer support groups, weekend retreats and other events within the community, said Lynn Carretta of Kaleidoscope, a program offered through the hospital that addresses mind, body and spiritual wellness.
The BreakThroughs program is a tool for individuals, employees and businesses to learn to change attitudes and alter limiting perceptions building success in life and work, BreakThroughs President Walter Kowalski told those attending the half-day seminar.
Over 17,000 people around the country have participated in the program since it began in 1986, he said. Kowalski, along with his wife Karen and cofounder of the program Al Hedrick, helped present the seminar.
"We lead people from 'I can't do this' to 'how can I make it happen', " he said. In order to make changes in the workplace or in their lives, people need to be willing to take risks and comfort zone, he said. Ending the day with the board-breaking exercise is symbolic of life and the obstacles people encounter daily, Kowalski said. The wood is representative of people's mindset and values. To be successful people need to look past the obstacles in front of them and focus on their goals, maintaining belief in themselves.
Within the word "challenge" is the word "change" and lives are constantly filled with both, Kowalski explained. Attitude is the driving force behind the way people meet the change and challenge.
Overcoming self-imposed limitations and realizing potential is dependent upon commitment, goals, strategies and action, he said.
"The goal is to create awareness of our ability to overcome our own selfimposed limitations. When we overcome those limitations we increase our potential. We all posses far more potential than we know," Kowalski said. Success is incremental and requires changes over time, which requires a commitment to a goal, he said.
"You need to have a goal." Michael Erie works at Community Options and attended the seminar last year. Erie chose to attend again this year, bringing 10 of his employees and four others from different departments in the organization.
"Last year I decided that where I was at in my life I needed an attitude adjustment," Erie said. "The reason I came back was because it was successful."
The program focuses on the fact that people are in control of their attitudes and can make changes, Erie said.
"In conjunction with our overall change in perspective you use the tools that you have and apply what you learn," Erie said. Learning ways to overcome obstacles, such as the techniques discussed at BreakThroughs, provides another learning tool. This is the third year the program has been offered to the community, Carretta said. The BreakThroughs team has come to Montrose four straight years as part of a weekend program Kaleidoscope offers to those whit terminal illnesses or dealing with stressful changes in their lives.
"(The program) helps bring wellness to the community giving people their own power," Carretta said.
Bringing the program to Montrose offers a beneficial experience to business owners wishing to create better interaction among employees as well as providing an attitudechanging experience for individuals, she said. "Awareness is the first step toward change. It is often necessary to shed old ideas to make positive changes for the new," Kowalski said. "We all have obstacles, but we need to look past them to be successful."
