Oxycodone

As I have done in previous  blogs I'm going to present a challenge from the card game "Bounce Back." Your job is to list the skills and attitudes of resilience that you would use in dealing with the challenge. Describe how you would respond to the challenge using these skills.

This one relates to your child and to the oxycodone prescription that you were given for your back pain.

You receive a call from the assistant principal at your child's school informing you that your child is been suspended and that the police were contacted because a prescription bottle of oxycodone with your name on it was found in your child's possession. How would you use the skills and attitudesof resilience to deal with this situation?

Take some time and think about this and about what skills and attitudes you might apply. Try to put yourself into the situation and think through exactly what steps you would take in dealing with it.

Here are some of our suggestions about ways that you might deal with the situation. Again these are only suggestions. Every situation is different, as is every person. We're sure that there are other ideas that you may have or others may have about how to deal with the situation and how other skills and attitudes of resilience could be applied. We would encourage you to think this through and to talk with others about how they would deal with a similar challenge.

First, we believe you might have some very strong feelings about what has just happened but you need to get control of these feelings if you are going to deal with the situation and with your child and with school and the police. Vent some of the anger and fear that you understandably may have. Take a deep breath. Call someone who can listen to you for a minute. They don't have to solve the problem they just need to listen. So connecting with others dealing with your feelings may be the first step in dealing with the situation.

Go to the school. Talk with the assistant principal and the police and with your child. Develop a realistic plan for dealing with the situation. This is a complicated situation. There's a lot of information that you may need that you may not have. Think don't just react. Involve others like your partner, other family members and friends who can help. And keep managing all the feelings that may come up through this process.

Again you may have come up with other skills and attitudes that you would apply in the situation. As we said earlier every situation and every individual is different. We would encourage you to think this through and to talk with others about how they have dealt with a similar challenge or how they feel l they would deal with such a challenge.

Over the years in using this game, we have found that it encourages people to really think about what they would do in a specific situation and requires them to actually demonstrate how they would apply the skills in the attitudes of resilience to the challenge.

So talk about it with others. We will present another challenge in our next post.

Rain

As I have done in past blogs, I'm going to present a challenge from the card game called Bounce Back. The game is a tool that we have been using in teaching the skills and the attitudes of resilience. It is a "serious game" that ask you to apply the skills and attitudes of resilience to a specific challenge and describe how you would respond to that challenge using these skills. Just like life, we don't know what challenge we will be dealt.
Here's one that relates to the weather: rain and lots of it.
It has been raining all day. You leave work early so that you can get home in time for the birthday party that your wife is been planning for your eight-year-old. You're almost there, and as you top the hill, you see that the road at the bottom is flooded. Cars have stopped. Some of turned around. But you have no other way quickly home. You will be late at least an hour if you take the alternative route. What do you do?
Take some time and think about this and what skills and attitude you might apply in the situation.
Here are some of the suggestions about ways that you might deal with the situation. Again, these are only suggestions. Every situation is different, as is every person.
First, we would encourage you to calm down and to think clearly about what you're going to do. That means managing all those feelings that may have come up as you realize that you may be dealing with a disappointed eight-year-old, with an angry wife. So take a deep breath and calm down.
Clearly you need to communicate with your family. Let them know your situation. They may be able to help you think about what the best plan is which. Make a realistic plan and carry it out.
Lastly, we would suggest that you look at the big picture. Your family want you to get home safely. There will be other birthday parties. And being late for this one may create some disappointment, but it may ensure that you will be around for the next one. Take care of yourself.
We have found over the years that using this game and its challenges encourages people to really think about what they would do in a specific situation and requires them to actually demonstrate how they would apply the skills in the attitudes of resilience to the challenge. Put yourself in the situation. Think through what you would actually say to your wife or to your eight-year-old.
We would encourage you to talk about this challenge with others. Asked them what they would do and if you value their opinion in their direction asked them to coach you.