Bags Packed – 10 Days and counting

So not long now until I leave.  I packed my bags last night, and tonight I pack everything else up…  Am I ready – no, yes, maybe, always…  It’s hard to say what I need to be ready for, as each summer is different.  Today I read a news article on Lawrence, MA which a fellow Camp Lawrence staff member shared with another on Facebook.  It proved to be an interesting read, and paints a very real picture of how the town feels to me.  It seems to be a tough environment for a child to grow up in, and a number of our campers come from Lawrence to camp with us.  The Y’s Camping Services office is also located in the Lawrence Branch of the YMCA.

I have worked with youth in both a professional and voluntary capacity for a long time, but it wasn’t until I first went to work at Summer Camp in 2005 that I really got to learn about what the YMCA has to offer and is all about.  The Y is a fantastic organisation, and with a large range of programs, is a great hub for any community. So a big shout out to all the staff of YMCA’s around the world!

Each day I get two inspirational quotes by email.  One from Outward bound, and one from some other random website I found.  Oddly enough, today’s both had a similar theme…

The first is a quote from Tim Tebow, who has experienced some success in American Football:

“Success comes in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t come with money and it doesn’t come with fame. It comes from having a meaning in your life, doing what you love and being passionate about what you do. That’s having a life of success. When you have the ability to do what you love, love what you do and have the ability to impact people. That’s having a life of success. That’s what having a life of meaning is.”

The second comes from Leo Roste, a teacher and academic:

“The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make a difference that you lived at all.”

Although one certainly wants to lead a happy life, it is important to note the value of contributing to society in some form, and to do so while doing something you love.  I am lucky enough to be able to do this in two countries – both New Zealandand the USA.  In NZ I work with youth in a voluntary capacity and also assist other Kiwi’s in their endeavour to be a part of the American Summer Camp world.  In the USA I get to be a part of an amazing camp community which is also a part of the YMCA and make a valuable contribution to the operation and success of each camper and staff member who joins us for two weeks.  Not only that, but I get to have fun while doing it and avoid winter!  I feel that Leo Roste (and Ralph Waldo Emerson who Roste was paraphrasing) may have got it wrong, or at least been slightly off the mark, so lets try again:

“The purpose of life is to make a difference, to matter, and contribute to society around you, but in order to be truly successful in this endeavour; you must find something you love so that you can share that joy with others while impacting the community around you.”

JFK

I’m not telling you its going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it (another quote I love).

For those of you heading off to work at Summer Camps across the USA over the next couple of weeks, remember how important each and every thing you do is, and be sure to have fun doing it!

A wise man once told me “if you are not better at the end of the day than you were at the beginning of the day, you have wasted that day, and you will never get it back.”