Camping SoloWritten by Lynn Cutts
I recently completed my first solo camping trip. Although I've been camping for over 45 years, this was first time I didn't have parents, friends, or a husband alone with me. It was just me, and birds, and bees. And bear, but that's another story. Anyway, as I planned my trip, I found myself getting more and more apprehensive. What if I couldn't . . . pitch tent, light stove, haul water, sleep by myself . . . You name it, I worried about it. I came up with Plan B's and Plan C's and even a few Plan F's. By morning I was supposed to leave, I'd almost "what if-ed" myself out of going. But then I came up with ultimate Plan B: if it got too tough, I could go stay in a motel, or even head home. So I went. And I found it was easier than I expected. I threaded poles into tent, and then got little metal doohickies into tent poles so tent actually stood up. I pounded five out of six tent pegs into rocky ground (bent sixth) using a rock, because I'd forgotten hammer. I hauled water. I coaxed our cranky, thirty-year-old camp stove into working. I split kindling for a campfire I didn't get to have (the bear, again). And at end of two days, as I drove home happy and at peace, I realized I didn't have just one success. I had a whole collection of little ones.
| | GremlinsWritten by Lynn Cutts
I don't know how familiar you are with Richard Carson's concept of Gremlin, so here's a brief explanation. First of all, we all have Gremlins. They are little (or not so little) voices that nag at us all time. Sometimes they try hard to keep us safe, to not try new things. Sometimes they tell us that whatever it is we are doing, it's not good enough, fast enough, clever enough. . . Gremlins also are those intrusive little thoughts that tell us we should be doing something else. They're really good at getting us trapped between a rock and a hard place, at least in our own minds, and they love putting us in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" sort of bind. Our Gremlins are always present, but sometimes they are a lot louder than at other times. Often, they like to disguise their messages as really coming from ourselves. So first thing to do in learning to deal with your Gremlins is to learn how to distinguish their voices from yours. Here are some clues: You might have a Gremlin present: - When your thoughts are running around in circles. - When you can't win, no matter what. - When it is more important to do things for others than to take care of yourself. - When you are creatively blocked. - When nothing is fun. - When everything you are doing is wrong. - When you're operating from "should" instead of "could" or "have to" instead of "choose to." - When you are arguing with yourself.
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