You are going to have to grow

I recently asked my sister what made camp so special. We had been co-counselors, working together, at a summer camp during our college years, and I wanted to hear her perspective on it looking back all these years later. She said a lot of the things you’d expect about the summertime magic and the games and the silliness of it all. And then she said something that stuck out to me so clearly and vividly. She said…

“You had to grow as a person week after week."

And oh my gosh she’s right…that is exactly what made camp so special…summed up in one perfect little sentence. To go week after week, as a camper or as a counselor, you had to grow. You had to be open to exploring, to seeing new things, to getting outside of your comfort zone. There was no choice but to grow. And to come away from it all a different person than you were going in.

And it will be the same in our work. You are going to have to grow. You are going to have to shed some old ways of thinking and take on new approaches. You may have to try on a new costume or take on a new character just to see how it feels to play a little bit. You are going to have to touch those edges you’ve been avoiding for so long. The edges of your comfort zone that you haven’t seen in awhile. You are going to have to grow. And that will be exactly what makes it all so special.