Me & My Gal
Sandra has the Girl Scouts experience with Halston (as you know, especially during cookie season) and I get Adventure Guides. This past weekend offered another opportunity for father-daughter bonding with Halston – it was time for Winter Camp!
Eight other dads and I packed up our Rainbow Unicorns and headed to Big Bear to join over 100 fathers with their K through 5th-grade children. On the agenda were inner tubing, archery, ropes course, slide, rock wall climb, BB gun rifle targets, and tie-dyeing.
Also included, at no extra cost, was unlimited hot chocolate (I lost count at 8 cups over the 2 days) and copious amounts of snacks with zero nutritional value. While we keep a relatively healthy diet at home, I let Halston have whatever she wanted. She took full advantage, including Saturday morning while I was distracted in meditation, to have a pre-breakfast of gummy bears and potato chips. In her defense, she did come outside to ask and I vaguely recollect answering “have whatever you want sweetie”. She did.
It was clear that while being a weekend experience together, this was about Halston bonding and playing with her friends, enjoying outdoor activities, practicing their not quite ready for prime time skit Saturday night, and having as little to do with me as possible. As much as I would have liked more interactive time with her, it nurtured my soul seeing her laugh and play with friends on a secluded mountain top and pristine setting. I really enjoyed the adult time and getting to know each of the dads better while none of us were distracted with our electronics or work.
As a real estate agent
It’s so easy to act by default and wants to provide for my family. As a real estate agent, I feel the urgency that if I don’t return a call, text, or email immediately, a prospective client may choose to go elsewhere. Being an older dad, or maybe my recent immersive studying of surrender has really helped me appreciate how precious these moments and experiences are. I didn’t pick up my phone all weekend. Not surprisingly, my clients, the real estate industry, and the rest of the world got along quite well while I checked out for a few days of R and R. I am reminded of why I’m so grateful I get to do what I do for a living and for being alive.
Opportunity
My coach Steve says this is part of my opportunity to surrender. I have to schedule life first, or else I’ll fill my time with work and maybe squeeze life in later. I hope that thought helps you too.
I probably know what you do for work, but do me a favor – hit ‘reply’ and tell me what you do for “life”.