I loved summer camp as a kid. I didn't have many opportunities to attend camp, but the camps I attended left a lasting impression. What's not to like? Whether it's a day camp or an overnight camp experience, camp offers youth a chance to be anything you want to be. At camp, you make new friends, form tight bonds with your patrol (or tribe as I like to call it), learn the power of teamwork, try new things, miss your family, sing songs, dance like a fool, make s'mores and overall you're able to be the person you want to be but can't be in school. Camp offers those things because camp doesn't have the parameters that schools have. At camp, you aren't pigeonholed into the same social groups, so you are forced outside of your comfort zone and have to quickly adapt to new people and new experiences. Sure, sometimes camp can be uncomfortable too because you are outside your comfort zone, but you grow profoundly from the experience. Camp teaches resiliency and helps you discover yourself in a community environment. What a great metaphor for life! What if....life is one big camp!? Life is whatever we want it to be, so life is...camp.
Happiness is defined as joy, well-being, enjoyment and lightheartedness. Happiness is not a remote island in the Bermuda Triangle, only found by a treasured few who find themselves there after years of searching, only to never be seen or heard from again! Happiness is a state of being, something that all can attain. Happiness doesn't discriminate, it isn't an exclusive club, nor does it cost anything. In fact, money can't buy happiness, and trust me, many people have tried only to find themselves wealthy and miserable. Power and fame aren't happiness, those things merely feed the ego, which is like fish food, you need a lot of it but too much will kill you and too little is a tease and you want more and more. Those things are false happiness, like quick fix drugs that make you crave more, only to leave you more lost and certainly unhappy. Relationships can bring you joy, but you can't find happiness in or from another person. You are responsible for your own happiness. Great relationships form wonderful bonds that stimulate endorphins, but you must be receptive and open to this kind of bond, which goes back to you being responsible for your own happiness. So what is the road to happiness? It's an inner journey, a perspective and way you choose to live your life.
Imagine this, you wake up tomorrow and instead of looking at your day full of responsibilities including work, exercise (if you have time) with dread about what you need to do, but instead you wake up excited that you are at camp! You wake up realizing that you aren't just at any camp, not a camp to get you into college or to get ahead, but a camp that you chose, and it's called Camp Happiness. What would your mindset be if you wake up believing you are at camp! This is the coolest camp ever though. This is a camp without boundaries, because you are the camper, the counselor and the Camp Director.
As Camp Director, you do oversee the activities, manage the budget (your expenses) and you make sure you are safe and protected. I know many people that do not manage their own lives in that way, they are forever the camper but never the counselor or camp director and their lives are a mess. The "camper only" mentality tends to lead to credit card debt, addictions, a feeling of entitlement and a profound lack of security. They aren't happy, in fact they are often the angriest people I have ever come across. Some campers also tend to create chaos, drama and confusion wherever they go. Then there are those who are always the counselor, afraid to oversee their own lives but too afraid to be a carefree camper. They end up trying to manage others because they are secretly resentful of those they perceive as being over them, so they control those under them and undermine those over them. Those folks also often never say what they mean or mean what they say. In fact, these types of people are incredibly out of control inside themselves and they hide it with facades. Then there are those who are camp directors, who manage their lives well, but they forgot what it's like to be a camper or a counselor, lacking the creativity and freedom to let go and experience life. So...the real key to happiness is integrating all three roles...being the camper, the counselor and the camp director! Throw in there the program director at times too, making sure you have new and inspiring experiences to keep you on your toes. Think about the happiest people you know. Those people tend to have a great balance. They are positive, excited, inspiring people who enjoy life, yet they are also responsible and trustworthy. They combine all three roles beautifully. Their inner camper can shine because their inner counselor and inner camp director have created such inner security that their camper can experience life as an adventure. So come with me, allow yourself to be the camper, the counselor and the camp director and let's go to Camp Happiness.
Don't worry, be happy and welcome to Camp Happiness!!
