Alison Crane, Garland County Extension Service
Recently I chaperoned a 4-H youth camping trip to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. The whole experience was full of physical and emotional challenges. Once our crew was out on the water in our canoes with only what we could carry in our backpacks, there was no turning back. Our only option was to keep moving. I have to admit that, at times, I regretted volunteering for this assignment because it really was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
Work, family, health issues and more can create what feels like overwhelming challenges that, unlike the temporary difficulties faced by my camping trip, do not necessarily end after four days. Sometimes life is not so easy to live but trials can bring opportunities for growth. We recognize that developing personal fortitude or resilience is vital for youths, but adults also have to continue to grow and progress.
While out there roughing it with the teenagers, I had to make a choice to make the best of the miserable weather conditions, heavy loads we were carrying and the amount of effort it took to get our camp set up and taken down each day. I had to force myself to not focus solely on how tired, cold, and sore I was, because I would have missed many moments of laughter, beauty and even the benefits of working together as a team to accomplish our goals for each day.
One of the best ways to deal with life's difficulties is to find meaning in your experiences. When faced with a challenge everything does not always end up happy and wrapped up neatly with a bow. The Utah State University Extension offers some useful strategies for dealing with life's difficulties. Their final strategy is sometimes a difficulty has to be endured and we might have to just come to terms with the experience after the fact. Finding perspective on a situation or event can help us to grow personally and allow us to better understand our own capabilities.
If we have children or work with youths, it is especially important for them to see adults find meaning in our experiences and move forward. By watching us handle or sometimes even endure some experiences, they can gain insight that will help them when they face their own difficulties. Taking time to reflect not only allows us to gain insight into a problem or situation, but we can also determine whether there is an actual solution or how to accept that maybe this time there is not one.
Life is full of challenges; some just happen and others are the results of our own decisions.
The Garland County Extension Service has resources and educational opportunities for youth and adults to improve the lives of Arkansans. To learn more about Extension programs, email [email protected] or call 501-623-6841.