For strapped newlyweds, camping sounded like an affordable alternative for break-aways. But after one night in a tent, I regretfully informed my husband that I am NOT a camper, EVER!
Fast forward 15 years… and we entered the window where camping would be the perfect outlet for young children. I eagerly encouraged my husband to have a boys’ weekend away with friends (looking forward to me-time at home).
But FOMO is a terrible thing… and the next time the moms decided to do the ‘chalet’ thing whilst the men do their ‘camp’ thing. Our chalet experience turned out to be a nightmare, and we contemplated whether sleeping in a tent could possibly be worse. To our surprise, we survived the one night in the tent! And in a nutshell, that is how we became regular weekend campers.
However, it was still a leap from weekend camping to full-on safari to wild camping. The secret is that it all started with that one small step out of my ‘comfort zone’.
Lessons learnt:
○ It was not so much FOMO that got me into camping, but rather because I intentionally surrounded myself with friends who challenged my boundaries and inspired me to have experiences I never thought possible.
○ I also learnt that there are no absolutes such as NEVER EVER. Within the context of ‘limiting self-beliefs’, anything is actually possible when you are willing to reframe your thinking about it.
○ Being someone who can easily get lost in my own mind, nothing as powerful as camping forces me to become ‘present’. Trust me, when you are deliberating how to keep sand, spiders and snakes out of your tent, ‘urban’ problems vacate your mind.
○ Even time starts losing its hold over you. When you are in the bush, the day of the week becomes irrelevant.
○ And of course, you will experience the nurturing power of being emerged in nature.
○ On the downside, I soon realised that when you are on safari something WILL go wrong; it is only a matter of when and how challenging. Not only did it flex my ‘resilience and robustness’ muscles, but I also learnt that the ‘tribe’ will look after each other and with their collective ingenuity will make a plan.
○ Furthermore, I learnt that forging friendships around a campfire and visiting out of the way places, create memories and wealth that no material objects can possibly replace!
If you are willing to disrupt your comfort and want to take that first step towards chasing your dreams, please visit my website for more details or reach out to me by completing the contact form.
Consider whom you have in your life that challenges your comfort zone, inspiring you to achieve greater heights you wouldn’t have thought possible?
#camping #nature #mindfulness #purposeandmeaning #coaching #m3perspectives