So what's this 'Power Weekend' thing?

It's a good name, but it does lead to some funny questions. "Power Weekend? is that some kind of self-help guru type thing?", etc... As one of my now favorite blogs pointed out, the people who have been through it, don't really talk about it. It is for the initiated, in part to keep it special. That said, you could say that Power Weekend is this:

It's a whirlwind of activity that confuses the hell out of you, and which becomes hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been through it.

I could give you a laundry list of the activities we go through, the training we put ourselves through or the madness that some instructors inflict on us, but that wouldn't really do it justice.

It's hard. The two I have been through have been the hardest things I've ever done. Most people of my vintage who have been through it rank it just behind getting married and having kids as life experiences go.

It is a very emotional experience. I get choked up at several moments during the weekend, especially when I see someone find the strength to do something that they didn't think was possible, and come out triumphant afterwards.

It changes you. I am not the same person after this experience then I was going in. The changes are often more visible in the younger people who go through this, but I don't think that anyone who puts themselves out there on Power Weekend can come through it unchanged. You learn a lot about each other on Power Weekend.

It teaches the value of teamwork, and the devotion to something greater than yourself. I don't know how anyone could watch a group of exhausted children push themselves to run their best 5k race, finish and then turn around and run back for the ones who weren't done yet, and not go "Wow!"

It is a triumph of the spirit. On the surface this would seem to be a physical test (and it is to a certain extent), but in reality it is about teaching people what harnessing spirit can mean. I believe that most limits we experience in our lives are self-imposed. This weekend teaches you to be aware of your limits, and gives you the tools to surpass them -- often by giving you the necessary people to help you.


I leave you with this - it has helped me through two Power Weekends, and as I get ready for my third in a few years, I'm sure it will be with me again:

Spirit

Man gets tired
Spirit don't
Man surrenders
Spirit won't
Man crawls
Spirit flies
Spirit lives when man dies

Man seems
Spirit is
Man dreams
The spirit lives
Man is tethered
Spirit is free

What spirit is man can be