MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- To be honest, when I signed up for this year’s Personal Growth Retreat, I had no idea what to expect. The undisclosed details of the trip made me a bit apprehensive as to where I was going and what I would be doing. Would it be a weekend of sitting around a campfire singing “Kum-ba-ya?” Maybe I was going to be locked in a room and fed only bread and water for three days.I was pleased to find the weekend would not entail any of these things. While at the retreat my fellow participants and I talked, listened to music and even ate some tasty meals, all at no cost to us. But most importantly we were given a chance to unload our mental burdens and take a clear look at what was truly important in our lives.In this day and age it is easy for people to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of modern life. Service members are especially prone to stress stemming from jobs that involve long hours and large amounts of responsibility. The Personal Growth Retreat offers an environment that disconnects attendees from their normal routines and gives them a chance to examine their lives and get back in touch with their spirituality.I’m not usually a deep or spiritual person, but I used my time away to do some soul-searching and was surprised to find I had put aside and forgotten many important personal issues. The isolated setting made it easy for me to identify what my spiritual life was missing and what I could do to better balance my life.Now that I have returned, I have been asked many questions on the specifics of the retreat. “Where did you go? What did you talk about? Did they try to brainwash you?” My answer to these queries: Trust the process.“Trust the process” was a central theme of the weekend, and by doing so I experienced a long-overdue personal and spiritual growth. Retreat goers have reaped the benefits of trusting the process for over 30 years, one reason the Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation still holds the three-day events all over the world. When I stepped off the bus in front of my barracks Sunday afternoon I felt like a new person, ready to tackle my job and life with a renewed gusto. I hope that next year more station residents take advantage of the retreat, trust the process, and give themselves the gift of personal growth.