Meeting Challenges in a Brave Way

We love Sundays at High Rocks! They are typically a little more chill than the rest of the week.  We wake up a little later, and the morning is at a much slower pace. However, that slower pace does include getting our laundry up to breakfast in the morning.  It doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but getting all of the laundry together, and then traveling to the dining hall in three large bags per cabin. It can be a lot.  It is certainly teaching some self-reliance, teamwork, and even some responsibility for our actions.  Nonetheless, it went smoothly without too much effort. Our laundry efforts were rewarded with scratch-made cinnamon rolls for breakfast!  What a treat! Not to worry, we rounded breakfast out with some oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and a fruit bar.

After some time at assembly, we gathered for our Sunday morning reflective time by the lake.  Zoob went over some ideas about Being Brave.  Bravery is not something we are born with; you acquire it over time as you gain life experiences.  You can practice being brave by acting on what your heart tells you to do and challenging yourself with new experiences, even when you are afraid. It can take a little time and a lot of patience with yourself. Some other key phrases the kids heard were: examine your fears, accept vulnerability, practice accepting uncertainty, attempt difficult tasks, and develop mental resilience.  Zoob did a great job of tying it together with the High Rocks community, activities, and day-to-day life at camp. I feel like summer camp at High Rocks is a perfect place to work on this topic.  My favorite part was her “be brave for 20 seconds” moment.  It’s hard to imagine being brave for a whole day, or even an hour. You can do anything for 20 seconds. It’s all about meeting challenges in a brave way.

The rest of the morning was presented with all sorts of choice period activities and events.  Camp looked was alive all over the campus with guys playing disc golf, swimming, canoeing, some games of gaga and four square happening, tennis, and even some archery by invitation.  I also enjoyed guys just relaxing in the chair down by the lake with a book.

This afternoon we were presented with our all-camp event.  The stage was set for Zombie Apocalypse!  The theme involved a number of “Zombie” staff who were against the remaining “human” campers.  The boys rotated through a series of challenges to try to beat the Zombies all afternoon.   The staff were all dressed up in the best dead-ish Zombie attire and make-up.  It was a fun time had by all!

We wrapped up the day with a cookout on the lawn of hot dogs and hamburgers followed by our weekly campfire of music followed by a story. It was a perfect night to enjoy the outside air and just appreciate being around one another.

We only have 12 days left!  The next week will pick up steam fast.

Have a great night and best wishes for YOUR week ahead.

Don Gentle

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