Doing Hard Things – Part 1

My husband, son, and I were able to attend a camp this summer. They usually host hundreds of kids, but due to the current situation and regulations, they could not have kids sleepover unattended. They did an excellent job of being flexible and finding ways to still serve their community. It is a high adventure camp, and they are used to having campers do much of the work. The counselors have had to shift their viewpoint. They no longer have campers; they have guests. It is a different paradigm. And they have nailed it.

I attended this camp several times when I was young, and all five of my boys have been campers here at least a couple of times. Our youngest was supposed to be here for two weeks this summer. I love this camp for so many reasons, but the one that I’m writing about today is that it encourages my family and me to do hard things.

When we got here, there was a list of activities we could sign up for. The only one we knew we all wanted to do was rafting, so we signed up for it for the next day. My husband and son were excited about it, and I was too, but I had many doubts. I almost backed out.
The negative thoughts kept creeping in. “You’re overweight and out of shape.” “No one wants to see you in a swimsuit.” “What if you fall out? They won’t be able to get you back in!” And so on. You get the idea.

I almost gave in to these thoughts and didn’t go.

But I know how important it is to do hard things, to get out of your comfort zone. If you don’t do hard things, you won’t be able to find, nurture, and share your genius. And that is what I do.

So I went. I put my negative self-talk and fear into a box and stuffed it into the back of my thoughts. Instead, I decided to express the characteristics of a genius: perspicacity, resoluteness, optimism, talent, action-orientedness, and generosity. And with a genius paradigm, I wanted to see these characteristics expressed in others.

We packed our lunch, towels, and sunscreen and got assigned our helmets and PFDs (personal flotation device) and climbed up into the old school bus. We rode for quite a while on bumpy dirt roads and highways until we got to our destination. We had enough people to fill three boats. My family was assigned to the head counselor’s raft. The camp photographer joined us.

Before we started down to the water, our guide (the head counselor) went over all the safety information: what to do if we fell out, how to help someone who fell out, rowing commands, etc. We then got in a circle and shared some inspirational thoughts to start the trip off right. And then it was off to the river.

I was feeling pretty good about everything. I have gone rafting several times in my life, and things were coming back to me. The negative self-talk was keeping quiet, and I was having a fun day.

But the hard part was yet to come.

Read Part 2 HERE.
Read Part 3 HERE.
Read Part 4 HERE.