In many, if not all aspects of life, work, and love, we will always be presented with challenges. And with those challenges come choices and the chance to figure out a solution to our problems. During these past few weeks of staff training at camp, we have been been extremely busy getting everything prepared for the campers to arrive (on Sunday!), and there have, of course, been a few ups and a few downs. But at the very start of training we were presented with one question that should be able to help us in almost any circumstance, a question that, I think, is to become the theme for the summer…
What Are Our Options?
It is a question so full of power and promise, and it asks you to challenge yourself with the task of finding your own solution to a problem. This is a life lesson everyone should learn… learn how to help yourself and be proactive, instead of having to wait and rely on someone else to fix your issue for you. Obviously there are always going to be some things that you can’t do yourself and will need to ask for help, but that is an option in itself and once again ties back in to our original question.
This question applies so heavily to camp life in pretty much every detail of your day – you are constantly presented with hurdles you have to overcome and daily stresses that you need to deal with. Things will be sprung upon you without more than a moment’s notice, or it will rain and storm so your perfectly planned pool party will need to be quickly changed. So you say to yourself ‘well, what are my options?’, and most of the time you will be able to come up with a solution.
Like the other night we went on an overnight in small groups of staff, which basically means we took a tent out to the middle of the woods and camped there. Or that was the idea until, at about 1:30am we were rudely awoken by a huge storm rolling in. I lay there for a minute just waiting for the inevitable to happen and then just as I’d thought, the pole holding the whole tent up promptly fell down, resulting in hysterical screams from all the girls. We easily fixed the tent, but then the wind was too strong and, just as I’d stepped outside to see what we could do, there was a loud ‘CCCCUUURRGH’ and the tent ripped right open with the top part coming apart from the ground sheet, creating a hole so big that I could walk back into the tent though it, instead of using the door. We took the tent down again and sat there for a while under the fly sheet, asking ourselves the very same question that’s been drilled into us as the rain poured down and soaked us through. Eventually we decided to call it a night and retreat back to our sections and warm, comfy beds as there was not really a lot we could do to fix the tent in the dark, wet woods, but it was interesting to witness everyone’s different reactions to the same circumstance and see how people would handle a similar situation if they had kids with them this summer.
‘What are our options’ doesn’t just apply to camp though. I ask myself this very same question every time I think about what I’m doing next in my life. It’s all encompassing and reminds me to ask myself every question that comes along with it…Where do I want to go? What do I want to do? Who do I want to see? How much money do I have? What do I want to accomplish?
So next time you find yourself in a bind, just ask yourself this question and I guarantee that it will help you slow down and think things through with a little bit more insight, so you can work out a solution and help yourself out a little bit more.
So… What Are Your Options?
Roo Around The World 