Time flies whether you’re having fun or not. The choice is yours.
Mary Engelbreit[1]
Over the long weekend in August, a friend of mine asked me to camp with her. Even though I am not much of a camper, I thought it would be fun, especially because we would be in a trailer. The trailer had air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and a stove to cook our meals. It would be an improvement over previous camping trips involving a tent, lots of rain, and the two of us huddled in a car. With our basic needs taken care of, we planned to enjoy the beautiful weather, go for walks, eat a good meal, and to talk over a glass of wine.
As Robbie Burns says, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”[2], and, boy, our plans did our plans go awry! When we got to the trailer, we discovered that there was no air conditioning because there was no electricity. We needed air conditioning because it turned out to be one of the hottest weekends in year, reaching 38° C on August 1, 2021. That was hot! Added to the extreme heat, we struggled with getting the refrigerator to work, and much of the food that we brought we had to throw out. With the remaining edible food, we didn’t cook it because my friend’s camping stove was so new that she couldn’t figure how to use it. It was a weekend that would cause anyone to throw up their hands and shout, “I give up!” However, we did not give up nor did we shout, “I give up!”, which I’m sure our fellow campers appreciated!
Instead, we decided to make the best of the rest of our weekend. Because my friend’s sister and brother-in-law loaned the trailer of the goodness of their hearts, we decided to be grateful for this gift from her family. As an act of kindness, they wanted my friend to get away from her daily stress and unwind in nature. We realized that not everyone had an opportunity to go camping, especially on a long weekend. Most people would not have friends or family who could/would lend them a trailer. Furthermore, most parks were booked up for the long weekend. My friend’s family not only had a trailer to lend, but also had it set up in a beautiful park approximately 25 minutes from our hometown. That meant we could enjoy nature as much as we possible and run into town whenever we needed—the best of both worlds. We were also thankful for our generous and kind neighbors. When we couldn’t get the refrigerator working, my friend got up the courage to ask our next-door neighbors—even though she didn’t know them. They were both willing and eager to help us with this problem. It turned out that the fridge worked but was on the wrong setting for keeping our food cold enough to preserve. It was a simple fix. Also, our neighbors behind our lot introduced themselves, visited with us for a short time, and even invited us to party with them. As we were middle aged women, and they were in their twenties, we didn’t take them up on their offer. However, we did appreciate the thought. Practicing gratitude helped us to see what we had and enjoy it.
Also, we learned to be flexible with our plans. When we discovered that there was no air conditioning, we went back into town, and enjoyed the air conditioning at my friend’s house. We realized that we could still visit at her place as much as at the camp. The bonus was that we could have a bath. Since we thought that shower facilities were not available (which turned out to be false), we had not planned to bathe until Monday—after all, we were camping. When we needed to go to her place to cool off, we had a bath, too! By changing our plans, we upgraded them. When my friend could not work the camping stove, we made delicious wraps and she boiled farm fresh corn. Yum! When we discovered that the indoor plumbing was limited, we only used the plumbing in case of emergencies or for middle of night trips. We decided that day trips as well as any other bodily functions could be handled by public washrooms. (Unfortunately for sister and brother-in-law, we are both middle-aged, so emergency and midnight trips were a necessity. After the long weekend, even with the occasional trip, it did stink. So, sorry about that one! Hopefully, they were just as flexible as we chose to be over the weekend.) The willingness to be flexible reduced the stress of the weekend. This shift in our attitude made our weekend a lot more fun.
There are so many ways to have fun: some people, like myself, play games on their phone, read books, and write stories; other people go for hikes, fish, and set up a tent to camp for fun. The common thread is both the attitude and practice that an individual brings to these activities.[3]
If you think that you are not having fun, you are probably not. Conversely, if you think that you are having fun—well, you know.
Works Cited
Brown, Brene. The Gifts of Imperfection. Hazelden, 2010
Engelbreit, Mary. “Top 40 Mary Engelbreit Quotes.” Quote Fancy, https://quotefancy.com/mary-engelbreit-quotes. Accessed 10 September 2021
[1] Engelbreit, Mary. “Top 40 Mary Engelbreit Quotes.” Quote Fancy, https://quotefancy.com/mary-engelbreit-quotes. Accessed 10 September 2021
[2] “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Dictionary. Com. Dictionary, 2021. Web. 10 September 2021
[3] In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown suggests that the practice of gratitude is “a call to action.” (Brown 78) It is “keeping a gratitude journal, doing daily gratitude meditations or prayers, creating gratitude art, or even stopping during their stressful, busy day to actually say these words out loud: ‘I am grateful for …’ When the Wholehearted talk about gratitude, there are a whole bunch of verbs involved.” (Brown 78n9)
