Savor the Moment

My title this evening actually came from a camper at our most recent Sunday campfire. I was asking our guys what they were looking forward to in this final week of camp with the idea of steering them in some productive and goal-setting directions… They were many steps ahead of me.

From left and right came all kinds of things that individuals had set their sights on. A multitude of campers had various iterations of progression level goals which was certainly part of the design. Make new skills and trips easy to see and understand, if not easy to attain. The proof was in the pudding that night as guys wanted to make particular levels, self-scaled to their skill set, in just about every single activity we offer. Others focused on trips that were coming up that they were on or hoped to be invited for. A few wanted to add to their friendships, be those already created or make a new one.

One of our oldest campers raised his hand and when called upon, he said he would like to savor this week. It was just different enough that it stopped everyone looking for their turn to speak, for a second. I pointed out that the speaker was in his last week of camp ever, as a camper. Though one day I would love to have him come back as a counselor, this was his time to enjoy camp as he will never be able to do quite the same again.

Somewhere in all the many young heads, that goal seemed to stick heading into the week. All around camp today, I’ve seen guys working hard, begging to practice a specific progression skill, asking about trips, and squeezing the camp days for all they are worth. Those same guys also seem to realize that in amongst the activity, it can be a lazy sail with a friend, the evenings on a cabin porch, or a field game with fireflies starting to pop. Memories made that will last much longer than these final and brief days.

This final week will continue to build as we go. Mudpits, tournament finals, drill team demonstration, and more. May all of our campers enjoy the hoopla, and still find the time to savor the moments.