As part of my new corporate life, I was required to attend a two-day Diversity Workshop – basically a team building leadership experience. I was, from the onset, opposed to the very idea of it. There were some comments from people that really freaked me out (“spooked the herd” as they say).

I’m not a very social person – especially in new situations. I take a long time to warm up to people – at least as far as they know. And I refuse to reveal what’s inside for even longer. So, in two days…? You’re getting nothing.

What sucks is that the second day, they challenged us to really give it everything we had. I was tired. I was over it. But, had I listened… I definitely would have – as they promised – gotten a lot more from it. There were so many times when my instincts (possibly persuaded by the constant mantras) were deafening in my head, but I was hesitant to act. I knew what I felt was right, but I didn’t want to stand out. I now know how wrong I was to keep it inside.

Am I going to change? I can’t help but. Big sweeping changes? No. But I kept a little memento as a reminder of a promise to myself (and made a promise to someone else). I made good (a bit) on the first promise. I hope to make good on the second (cos it’s a lot more fun!).