Life Is Good
NEWSLETTER FROM BETS DANKO
Buses and cars drive up (it’s always ‘up’, I don’t know why) to a place in the woods filled with buildings built a hundred years ago and stories to fill multiple lifetimes of “back when I was a kid” wisdom. Kids from everywhere find a cabin or a place to pitch a tent. Strangers become roommates, teenagers become leaders, and memories are made over stomachs filled with s’mores and songs that hail the simplicity of the life of a bullfrog and mosquitos that get under your nighty.
It’s childhood in a nutshell.
At camp your worries are all about crafts, volleyball, and swimming tests. At camp a dinner bell tells you when to eat and lists posted in your cabin tell you what’s expected of you. Life at camp is laid back and easy.
I had the pleasure of attending summer camp for a brief three days in June. It took 24 hours for me to embrace the simplicity entirely and look for the fastest path toward applying that simplicity to my life. I was all in with the life lessons. It was obvious what I was missing in life (simplicity) and what needed to let go (obsession with lists and lists of things “to do”).
A friend of mine used to talk quite a bit about her errands. She always wished she had someone to run her errands for her. I completely understand. What a horrible word… “Errands”. Right from the get go it implies error (“err”) which by extension makes you feel like it’s just something you don’t want to do.
My life had become a list of errands… a long list of things I “had to do” and would probably “never get done.” I was waking up every morning and running through all the things I “had to do” in the day before I’d even get up.
Now it wasn’t like I wasn’t doing anything at camp. I was. There were lists of things that needed to be done and I knew which things I was going to tackle when. But.... when I woke up in my little bunk bed all I thought about was getting up and preparing for breakfast. I was not thinking or worrying about errands … at all. I woke up casually and prepared myself for breakfast.
The rest of my day was in the service of others and of myself.
There was no way to make a mistake.
This summer camp was also a location in need of support and low cost labor …the perfect location for churches looking for mission work to plant volunteers for a week or two. I was a participant on mission. I stacked wood and identified areas on trails that needed some TLC. I bounced ideas on window frame solutions, and did some light cleaning/clearing in an outdoor labyrinth. It was the least stress I have lived with and entertained for about a year. There were no errands in site because there was no way to make a mistake… I showed up where I was needed when I was needed and never stressed about it.
I knew right away that life needed to change and it was going to start with attitude.
The change in attitude sounded a lot like this…
“I am so done. I want to life at summer camp." "Wait... I need change. It’s time to create a life that feels like a continual summer camp. “
“Wait… gotta reword that… it’s time to live life as though I am at summer camp. “
“Wait... life is summer camp.”
So... I’m hearing you, “maybe your life is a summer camp, but have you been in my world?”
I totally get it…. Life certainly seems like something on the opposite side of summer camp.
Perception is everything.
It comes down to choice and a few golden words. I can choose to become the embodiment of my stress or I can acknowledge that I will do what I can and that will be good. I can choose to be upset with myself for making mistakes or forgetting to do something or I can choose to acknowledge I am capable of mistakes and love myself unconditionally. I can choose to see tasks as errands or I can see them as experiences meant to be lived. And… when I come right down to it… how I acknowledge my choices is where the gold is. If at the end of the day I say, “today was a great day,” and believe that 100% no matter what challenges I faced… life is good.
Bring on the campfires and s’mores…
I choose summer camp… life is good.
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