FRIDAYS WITH FRANKY! Live Like You’re At Camp!
Each summer at WeHaKee changes us… in SO many wonderful ways! We make more new friends, we face new challenges and overcome them, we spend time outside being active and feeling free, we sing more (and worry less about how we sound!), we don’t worry about money, we eat meals with people we love to be with, we notice the little things (like unique bugs, odd shaped leaves, colorful cloud formations, how great the sun feels on our face), and we’re not afraid to be our true selves in front of others!
Sure, when we get back to our home communities, our schools and our neighborhoods there are a lot of pressures the push back on the free-spirit life we enjoy at camp. We might not feel as comfortable singing in front of others or fully being our true selves. We might again begin to worry we don’t have enough money to get the’right’ clothes and making friends may be more challenging.
But we still have camp in our hearts! And that gives us hope, courage and the strength to continue to move forward. That’s also known as confidence – the ability to trust our own abilities without undue worry about what others will think. That’s no small thing, either! Being confident is convincing yourself that you CAN do it – believing in yourself!
Read what another blogger thinks about the power of camp – If Our Daily Lives Were More Like Camp.. Brynn Harrington shared some of her thoughts about how camp can and should influence our lives everyday!
Some people think confidence is something you achieve and then it’s with you all the time. Well, it’s not a destination – it’s a process that ebbs and flows. Some days or in some situations, we might feel we have complete confidence in all that we can do. Yet at other times, we might feel like we’re not good enough or strong enough or … you know what I mean! The beauty of the camp experience is that it instills in us that even when our confidence is wavering and our worries are increasing, we know we can through it. We’ve experienced failure at camp, but we picked ourselves back up and gave it another try. And we’ve learned that the taste of success in the face of failure is so much sweeter!
So even though you may be trudging through the snow, wearing four layers to keep from getting frostbite, camp is the flame of hope inside you making sure you stay warm in the face of bitter cold windchills and stinging blowing snow. Keep living your life like your at camp and you’ll be warm and confident in all you do!
Have a great weekend everyone! Stay warm and think WeHaKee!
