Self Improvement Through Getting Outdoors

Today’s post is by guest writer. Eric Stephenson is the proud

owner of NJCampingInfo.com, a website dedicated to everything camping and all NJ Campgrounds information. I met Eric through SSWT Elite forum. I hope you enjoy his post as much as I did!

What do you get when you add up a Full time job, spouse, two kids, three sports per kid, school work, volunteering, family responsibilities, home maintenance, vehicle maintenance, vacation, financial responsibilities and working towards being a better you?

Stress, stress and lots more STRESS!!!

How do you cope? How do you keep getting yourself out of bed every morning with each of these 1,000 pounds weights hanging around your neck?

Because we have to right? That’s the response most people give…we have to do all this stuff so our children/family/life have more right?

Think of each of these stress producing things as being plugged into a large battery…what happens when we turn them all on? That battery gets drained of all its power doesn’t it?

You “turn on” the job and the battery gets drained a little but it’s only one thing so it’s not a big deal. Now add the evenings schedule of driving one child to soccer practice, a second child to soccer practice and the third child to football practice…the battery loses a little more of its juice right? Now you do it all in reverse to get the kids home safely…there goes a little more.

We all have these and many other “things” in our lives which drain our batteries don’t we? I’m sure you could name 10 or 15 other things to that list.

So after a couple of weeks or months of this what happens? The batteries are just about out of power, how do we recharge? How do we refill that battery so we can keep going? How do we put enough back into ourselves to get through another day?

Here’s my suggestion for you: Get out of the house and go camping for a weekend!

Why would I suggest that?

For lots of reasons!

Here are just a couple:

1. Sunrise
2. Campfire
3. Unplugged
4. Togetherness

Let me explain:

Sunrise

When is the last time you actually watched the sunrise? I don’t mean driving somewhere and happen to catch a glimpse of the sun coming up through the houses/office building/traffic lights. I mean actually sitting down somewhere in the dark and being still and really becoming a part of the experience?

Night is often associated with fear, loneliness and emptiness. How better to recharge your battery than to actually experience a glorious and beautiful sunrise. Try this:

1. Set alarm for 30 minutes prior to sunrise.
2. Get out of bed when it goes off.
3. Make your favorite morning beverage.
4. Find a place to sit that has a view of the eastern sky that is unobstructed by manmade objects.
5. Sit quietly and be as still as possible.
6. Make sure there are no manmade light sources anywhere around you.

It’s pretty dark right now with just a hint of light in the sky. It can be pretty hard to distinguish your surroundings. Just be still and take it all in.

Listen for the wind, for the animals whose habitat you are in and for all the wonderful sounds of nature.

After a few minutes you will gradually notice that you can see a little easier, you can begin to distinguish the leaves from the trees. If you are quiet enough you will begin to hear birds chirping, animals rustling around in the brush and you will be able to smell the wonderful smells of the trees, grass and nature itself.

There it is! You can just begin to see the top of the sun peaking above the horizon. Notice the colors, the shadows and way they play off the trees, brush and grass around you.

Keep watching. Notice how the whole world is brightened and awakened by the sun, feel the awesomeness of the light and the power it gives just by being there. Soak it in, revel in it and become aware of the raw power it gives us individually.

Campfire

Sitting around a campfire in a campground and enjoying some time with loved ones can be an absolutely magical time. If you have never tried it, then I highly recommend you do!

Fire can be a very purifying experience that must be experienced to be fully understood. I’m not sure what it is but men in particular are drawn to fire and can very easily get completed wrapped up in the flames, the heat and the mesmerizing colors of a good fire.

When the sun goes down and the campfire is roaring is a time that lends itself to honesty, deep feelings and contemplation of things larger than ourselves. I’m not really sure why but trust me it happens!

My children will not go camping without firewood so we can have a couple of campfires…they tell me it is one of there most favorite parts of the whole camping experience. Sometimes I think they mentally store up topics to discuss around a campfire. Religion, politics, their future, why people are mean, and world history (true example: Why did Hitler kill all those Jewish people) are all topics that have been brought up by an 11 year old and a 13 year old boy in the last year or so.

The connection that is created when a group of people openly, honestly and passionately discuss important topics is beyond indescribable! The rejuvenation powers of such evenings is equally beyond description!

One last comment about campfires: while a chimnea is a nice thing to have and use it is not the same as a campfire in the woods at a campground.

Unplugged

About two years ago my wife and I instituted a rule for all of our camping trips: All electronics are to be left in the vehicles and not brought into camp. This rule applies to all of us equally and applies to anything that gets plugged in or has a battery. I do check the cell phone 3-4 times a day to make sure there weren’t any emergency calls just for safety sake. At first my kids freaked out and it was very interesting but after the second trip they actually agreed with me that they liked this rule!

Do yourself a favor and implement this rule on your next camping trip…you will not regret it.

We are all so plugged in and always on these days it’s almost disgusting! I know of what I speak, I personally have two cell phones, four computers, an iPod, two other MP3 players and various other electronic gadgets. What a constant drain on our internal batteries these have become! There is no downtime, no off time and no alone time anymore.

Shut it all down and enjoy nature for a weekend!

Connect with the people you are with, enjoy the sounds of the bird chirp, chirp, chirping away and most importantly forget about the daily grind and all the eighty five million things you have to do on Monday.

Your spouse, kids and your sanity will all thank you for it!

Togetherness

In my house there are four people (my wife, my two sons and me) that all have very full schedules. I work full time, am the Scoutmaster of the local Boy Scout Troop, am a son, friend and am pretty much the go to guy for lots of people. My wife works basically full time also and is the peacemaker for her six siblings and mother. Each of my boys go to school full time, plays at least one sport every season of the year which means 2-3 practices per week and at least one game per week, goes to scouts each and every week, has homework each night, has friends they play with and are personally responsible for about 20 hours a week of Xbox time each.

Why do I tell you that?

Because even though we live in the same house and my wife and I drive the kids to/from each and every event they attend we don’t actually spend a whole lot of time together talking about things that matter. There are just way too many activities, responsibilities and distractions for that to happen.

When we go camping that all changes, the minute we get to our campsite its all about the family. We sit and talk, we hike together, we swim together, we cook together, we sit around the campfire together and we play together. I have learned more about kids during those camping trips than I would have ever thought possible.

When you get to know your spouse, kids or the friends you camp with it puts a smile on your face and warms your heart because you realize that these are good people that you truly care about and want to see succeed. There is nothing that recharges a battery faster than a smile and a warmed heart!

Some people think its a lot of work to go camping but I’m here to tell you that it’s a lot of work not going camping! Getting that recharge to your battery during the hustle and bustle of “real life” is immensely difficult.

One final thought: If you have read this entire post, agree with what I’m talking about and feel the idea tugging at you but you dismiss the feeling because “you’re just too busy” well guess what? DROP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING THIS COMING WEEKEND AND GET INTO THE WOODS!

People that are always “too busy” or its “too much work” are the exact people that this post was written for because they are the ones who’s battery is dangerously close to dead.

Thanks Eric!!
Here’s to You!