The Power of Optimism
On Monday, one of our Line Heads, Mitch, led Morning Watch. Mitch is a Line Head for Betula, our oldest group of boys. For his message, he shared a story about persevering through hard times with optimism and Warrior Spirit. Warrior Spirit is one of the four parts of our Falling Creek Code, and optimism has been the theme of this final week, guiding our discussions during Evening Embers, and setting the tone for campfire and church skits.
Mitch shared a story about a difficult time that came after he was one year into his service in the army. He was an officer leading a field exercise at night, fatigued and marching through the rain, when he fell over a huge log. He knew he was hurt, but had to finish the exercise and get back. He delayed getting his knee checked out, and finally went to see a doctor when he knew something was still wrong. The doctor told him that he had not only torn a tendon, that tendon had also died in his knee and needed surgery to remove the dead tissue. Mitch needed a 6 month recovery from that surgery, and the reconstructive knee surgery afterwards would take even longer. He was told that he would never run again, and had to be discharged from the army due to his injury.
Mitch explained how disappointed and sad he was to not be able to stay in the position that he loved. Instead of staying negative though, he embraced optimism and slowly worked to regain function in his knee. Months later, he still wasn’t able to run, but he started walking. Later he added a little jogging, and finally, a year and a half later he finished running his first mile. “I know it doesn’t sound like much,” Mitch said, “but it was huge for me at the time.” Today, Mitch maintains his optimistic spirit, coaching an under-17 soccer team back home, and training for his first half marathon in 8 years.
He ended the Morning Watch message by telling everyone how important it is to go at your own pace, and stay optimistic. “It might be slower than you want, but don’t rush to be at someone else’s pace,” he shared. Since everyone has their own goals, everyone has to go at their own speed. Even when it might feel like your goals aren’t on track, Mitch encouraged everyone to stay positive and keep going, just like he had to be with his knee injury.
During this session, we’ve been able to see the boys model optimism and Warrior Spirit often. Some have persevered through homesickness and overcome it by staying positive, and others have stayed optimistic about their challenging Progressions, reaching their goals after diligent work. No matter how the boys have shown their optimism and Warrior Spirit this session, we’re proud of them all. We’ll be recognizing all the campers who made it to Ranger and Warrior this session on Thursday, as well as giving awards to a few boys in each activity who excelled in their skills while representing the FCC Code.
Last night for Evening Program, we split into our cabin groups for Line Night activities. Our Tsuga boys hiked up to the “top of the world” above the old orchard to enjoy the sunset and some good conversation together. Andy, one of their Line Heads, said he was pleasantly surprised by the nice discussion that was had. They talked about the session, and what being at camp had meant to them. There was plenty of optimism around the conversations, and I heard lots of happy cheering as they ran back down the hill towards their evening cookies and bedtime.
Though I wasn’t there for the Betula or Sorrel Line Nights, I’m sure they were equally as optimistic. (Sorrel, being the youngest Line, naturally has the most positive energy - optimism is one of the Line’s attributes!) In our Evening Embers talks, we’ve been defining optimism as “hopefulness and confidence about the future, or the successful outcome of something.” We have both hopefulness and confidence about another great day on the mountain today!