RYLA Lebanon - First Day

  The Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) three days conference began their first session with Gilbert Doumit and H.R. M.P. Joseph Maalouf about Emotional Intelligence. The session was divided into two lectures. In the first, MP Maalouf asked the participants to group themselves according to taste of food, color of cloth and even  color of socks! This energizer helped the 80 participants to mingle and meet one another in a funny way. Then the participants were asked to give a definition of success. Wissam, a participant from Rotaract Saida, used Einstein definition: "Work more than others, know more than others but expect less than others", while Leena, from Rotaract-Beirut answer was "When I go to sleep & know I had a beautiful day, then that is success". H.R. M.P. Maalouf agreed and summed up the definition as: When I go to sleep & had peace with myself then this is success "When I go to sleep & know I had peace with myself, then this is success". The young leaders who are hosted in Ehden Country Club, 1500 meters above sea level, are here to sharpen their skills in leadership and to get in touch with fellow pioneers and colleagues. The explanation of Emotional Intelligence began with the explanation of Ying-Yang (white and black, good and evil) and the need to be honest with ourselves, the positives and the negatives we carry. "Before feeling with others, I need to be accepting and living in peace with my own self" concluded MP Maalouf. Then a new exercise was carried out. Each person chooses one weakness! Choose a confessor and a critic, confessors should explain their weakness to their Second step, critics should find positive energy and give it in the form of positive credit! partners, critics shall give them negative feedback. And then vice versa. One smart quote was: "A person who wants to prove he is strong, creates space between him and other people. . Showing vulnerability is essential in relationships." The participants also made a sample of emotional test formed of ten questions.

 Mr. Doumit then took the platform with the "I am what my actions lead me to become" quote. He gave an example of a woman whose husband has abandoned for his work. She began cheating on him with a lover. But the lover lived across the other bank of the river. One day, she was going back, but she had no money. A madman stopped her telling he will kill her if she continued, she went back and asked he crosser for a free lift, he refused. She went to an old friend who used to love her and remained single because of her, he also turned her down. Her lover, also made the same with no explanation of his refusal. In the end, she had to cross and got killed by the madman. The debate was on who held accountability on her death?! The participants worked in groups to find a decreasing order of accountability of the woman's death for the six characters. In the end, there were so much different orders and answers. The reason explained by Mr. Doumit is that it is due to our reasons and our backgrounds in which we judge and choose the answers.

 The ending of the session was a small honoring for the speaker guests. Most of the participants expressed their delight to participate and are looking forward for further sessions.