The one where we went camping

If you read my last blog post, you heard we were planning a little camping trip!

If you know Bradley or I at all, you know that we LOVE being in the outdoors, whether its camping, mountain biking, fishing, hiking, etc.

However, this trip was a bit different for us because we were bringing our 6 month old daughter out with us for her first camping trip!

Some might say, “ambitious,” other’s “crazy!” and some, “what took you so long!”

I’d been craving a good trip like this for the past 10 or so months.. since our last trip out! So I was all on board to get packed up, look into everything we might need, and still try to be efficient, and adaptable, aka not bring the whole house with us!

You may have experienced the train of emotions and thoughts I’m about to describe in your own life;

excitement- “wohoo, a trip!”

optimistic- “it’s going to be great, all the experiences and activities I love”

eager- “Let’s get this party started!”

With those thoughts, emotions, I started taking positive action: making lists, organizing, meal prepping, packing.

But then… another set of thoughts: “how do I be prepared for the unexpected.”

So I tried to anticipate the “unexpected” and got this array of emotions and thoughts.

anxious- “what if she starts teething, or gets a fever?”

nervous- “what if it’s colder than the weather forecast?’

stressed- “I’ve got a bit more work to do here to be prepared!”

The thoughts that triggered these “negative” emotions were really quite helpful! I was more prepared. I added MORE diapers, extra clothes, ordered a warmer sleepsack, packed the tylenol and booger gear, and did additional research.

But from there I had a choice,

Do I keep going down the “worst possible scenario route” to try to prepare EVEN MORE!!?

I’ll confess, I had a brief spiral into this:

-insecurity, overwhelm and inferiority with thoughts like: “I’m not prepared enough,” “I didn’t think of the weather initially, there must be something else I’m not thinking of.” “I’m exposing her to danger, unnecessarily.”

Thankfully, all the times I’ve walked myself and my clients through awareness of their thoughts and emotions and how to get back in the driver’s seat finally resurfaced.

I decided I didn’t want my outcome to be:

-“not enjoying the trip because I’m constantly on edge and looking out for all the possible danger’s I had imagined.” or

“being an under-concerned parent that put my own desires ahead of the safety of my child.”

What did I want? “To bring my daughter out into nature, teaching her how to safely enjoy the activities we love, watching out for the most realistic dangers and trusting I will be able to react sufficiently to unforeseen ones and adjust as necessary.”

In order to get to that place, I had to think some new thoughts and feel new emotions.

gratitude- “I’ve come up with realistic dangers to watch out for”

confidence- “I’m now reasonably prepared for them.”

acceptance- “the trip might not go as smoothly as I hope. and I have to be willing to adjust for the safety of my family should the situation warrant it.”

Phew! You’ve just gotten a crash course in one of the tools I help my clients use on the regular.

Determining the outcome you want, which is based off your values, (hint hint- last week’s blog) and thinking the thoughts that will allow you to get there, rather than being strung along by the thoughts that are leading you to the person you don’t want to be.

After all that, you are probably ready to hear how the actual trip went!

It went really well!

Was it perfect?!Absolutely not. Haha!

The burritos I prepped all got soggy because I didn’t seal the bag well enough….

and we got significantly rained on during one of our hikes.

But more importantly to me, was I able to “succeed” in being the person I wanted to be on the trip, despite “unforeseen” obstacles?

Yes!

While I was really frustrated that the time, energy, money I had spent prepping food was lost. (I did try to eat one of the burritos… I made it through half of one before I agreed to toss them all. haha), we adapted and stopped to get a few new groceries.

When it rained on the hike, we were prepared, we had rain gear, and kept our baby dry and warm. It certainly wasn’t ideal, and we didn’t get the view we hoped for, but we decided to make the most of it and ended up singing one of her favorite songs. haha “the ants go marching…. and they all go marching down .. to get out of the rain.” and got a good laugh. She was a trooper the whole time!

So, no regrets for me!

I definitely would have regretted letting my anxious thoughts prevent me from going, or from having a good time.

I hope you enjoyed my story of how I applied one of my own tools from coaching to MY life!

We aren’t broken, our brains are trying to protect us.

No emotions are bad, but not all thoughts are true. If we let untrue thoughts and scary emotions hook us, they can take us away from who we want to be.

We can choose to “take captive every thought,” by not letting untrue thoughts take control.

These are key in showing up as the person you want to be.

If you appreciated this story, please share it with a friend!

If you are curious about the tools I teach or the science behind it, please reach out! I welcome hearing your own stories and dreams of who you want to be.

Happy Camping!

Emma