Success is the ability to make wise decisions

I thought,  as I watched the team leader work with the group of troubled teens, do these people understand what they are being asked to do. The morning session had gone fairly well, even though the group was dealing with some intense topics, such as fear, accountability, and relationships. The team leader had created a friendly, open and trusting atmosphere and there was humour in the room. As we progressed into the afternoon the topics and focus became very personal and I thought I would not want to share with relative strangers.

One of the boys had not brought his lunch and so his blood sugar began to fade by about 11:30. There was food available (all of the healthy variety) and he said he would not eat the healthy stuff. Interesting comment as the two days before the group had talked about openness to change. So by 1:00 the young man was refusing to participate in the activities and the team leader said to me, I will talk to him at the break because I don't like his attitude and if he doesn't change and become involved, you will need to talk to him. After the break, I could see his anger rising and manifesting itself in the little actions he was taking, however, I could also see that he was struggling with controlling himself.  He did get more involved--enough that I did not have to talk to him and the instructor allowed him to come back the next day. She was clear however, that he had to make sure he brought his lunch. 


The next day the young man fell back into old habits and when asked to do something, he told the instructor where to go and left. He lost his opportunty and will not be allowed to finish the program (this is a last chance opportunity to complete high school) but he did on this day know that he had tasted success, he made some wise decisions about how to respond.  However, old habits are hard to break and he did fall back.  Success, sometimes is baby steps for the young as well as the Boomers. Sometime success comes through failue