The meeting was held on ‘Zoom’, and Larry Green was Chair.
Guest speaker was David Burt from Sport And Life Training (SALT), which is a not for profit organisation. It receives significant support from Bendigo Bank and some Rotary Clubs.
SALT conducts training courses for youths 12 years and over on Self Esteem for Kids, Leadership, Respecting, and Drugs and Alcohol. It also runs courses on Positive Sports Parenting.
Dave said that the traumatic effects of lockdown and isolation was what many “never saw coming.” He said that young men are at their best when they are playing sport e.g. footy, and it would be beneficial to be able to harness what is on the playing field and apply it to lives outside sport.
David cited the research done following the bushfire in Marysville. Ten years on, 50% of people see them selves as better off and 50% of as worse off. The trauma of Covid and lockdown could be a catalyst for positive change. He said that in counselling and conducting group sessions, the facilitator has to show genuine interest and dig deeper by asking participants (using the scale of 1-10) to rate how they felt during lockdown. One would be very bad and 10 very good.
If they rated themselves low, they will need to expand on the reason why they felt that way. He went into the characteristics of spiritual growth and said that sometimes we are tested not to show our weaknesses but to discover our inner strengths. He cited words such as mindfulness, wisdom, perspective, love , joy, and empathy to reach out to others. He quoted Eckhart Tolle who said “when you become uncomfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up.” What you can explore can make your life better in the future.
Dave ended by making an offer to the club to speak to us face to face and perhaps work in projects for youth in our area,
