{"id":6675,"date":"2023-05-01T15:03:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T22:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/?p=6675"},"modified":"2025-02-22T00:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T08:24:34","slug":"camping-stressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2023\/05\/01\/camping-stressed\/","title":{"rendered":"CAMPING = STRESSED?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLet\u2019s go camping this Easter,<\/em>\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be an adventure.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

This was no small ask of my husband, Arne. You see, we had bought a used trailer last fall in the dark and cold of a November night and he was eager to try it out for the first time.<\/p>\n

From Vintage to Fridge<\/h2>\n

The trailer was anything but new and despite my not wanting another project on our hands, Arne only saw an opportunity. We were upgrading from a vintage camper to a trailer with a fridge and a bathroom!<\/p>\n

Upon closer inspection, there were as many items that needed fixing as were operational in it. \u201cAt least the furnace and air conditioner work,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said. Hot water, however, was not happening. And the warped floor was unsettling. Always the optimist, Arne would come in from working on the trailer with a new plan of how he was going to fix it.<\/strong><\/span> While the trailer project made for good conversation with our friends, there was no time to fix it before camping season.<\/p>\n

Packing Dilemmas<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t see opportunities the same way my husband does.<\/p>\n

I like the sure thing. I am not a risk-taker, and I don\u2019t like change. I like order, plans, and organization. I live on routines. So the idea of testing out our trailer in April, in the States, was pushing me far outside my comfort zone.<\/p>\n

I. Was. Stressed.<\/p>\n

How do I pack? I now had a home on wheels with cupboards and storage compartments. Where do I put all the stuff? And do I separate the items that remain in the trailer from those that will go back into the house? Do I keep the clothes in bags or unpack them in the trailer only to pack them back into bags to carry into the house? Do I stock the fridge for the journey, or not? What food can I take across the border?<\/p>\n

The number of decisions to make was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

The final straw was looking at the weather forecast which called for pouring rain.<\/strong><\/span> I was done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying home<\/em>,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, my husband knows me well. He gave me a listening ear, encouragement to push through the overwhelm, and worked alongside me to prepare for the trip.<\/p>\n

Was I Quitting?<\/h2>\n

Then it occurred to me that I was not practicing what I teach.<\/p>\n

At ACS, we encourage our students to demonstrate a growth mindset; to embrace challenges as an opportunity for growth, to step out of the comfort zone, to try new things and build abilities, and to persevere in the face of failures.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n

In the end, we had an enjoyable camping trip celebrating Easter in a new way. All my concerns and \u201cwhat ifs\u201d never came to pass. It didn\u2019t pour rain and the camper functioned just fine. More importantly, I was reminded that growth comes in trying something new.<\/p>\n

Who knows, maybe Arne\u2019s trailer project really is an opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLet\u2019s go camping this Easter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be an adventure.\u201d This was no small ask of my husband, Arne. You see, we had bought a used trailer last fall in the dark and cold of a November night and he was eager to try it out for the first time. From Vintage to […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":6678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-6675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-growth-mindset"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6675"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=6675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}