This past weekend, I joined over one hundred youth age 14 – 18 years of age on a camp in…the middle of nowhere! I knew that my nights would allow me at most 4 hours of sleep and that I would return home a bit of a zombie, I knew that the ‘bathrooms’ would be really basic and that the chance of bumping into a lost spider (bigger than my hand), slimy frogs or hidden snakes was a high possibility and I knew that each day would be quite taxing and yet I went. Why? Good Question! I will leave that answer for another day. What I want to share with you is what I learnt.
1. I learnt that there are many things that you should provoke in this life –
you can provoke thoughts, you can provoke people (in good ways) and you can provoke laughter – and things you should not provoke. You should NEVER provoke a spider. They will bite you! As will a snake and in fact some people will too. Just walk away, walk away! Rain Spiders (and other similar spiders) will run, warn and then finally they will bite. If you have to, sleep somewhere else!
2. I learnt that sometimes it is worth it to start your day a little earlier. This is especially true if there are 3 warm showers, multiple grass-floored & cold showers and over 70 women. What is that saying? The early bird catches that worm…or in this case a warm shower!
3. I learnt, after our scary night hike, that it is easier to be brave if we do things together and it is easier to be brave when it is for our family or those we are called to look after. I also learnt that sometimes we are distracted by silly things when our focus should be elsewhere!
4. I learnt that if you dance it is almost impossible to be sad. The two just don’t go together.
5. Finally, I learnt that if you take a moment to be grateful even when you are tired you will be filled with happiness, energy and be more motivated!
Those are just a few of the things that I learnt while spending my time in the middle of nowhere. What have you learnt this week?
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