21 Day Happiness Challenge

We're taking the 21 day happiness challenge. Last weekend was our midsummer staff inservice. Every year, I try to make this day meaningful and inspiring and motivational so that the staff will be energized for the last few weeks of the summer.

I was really struggling with what to do, but my brother actually recommended this and I immediately knew that this would be perfect. We watched the video- http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?language=en

and it just so happens that 21 days from the date of the inservice is the last day of camp, so the timing seemed perfect.

The challenge is to do the following 5 things every day for 21 days. 

1.     Write down three new things you are grateful for each day.

Research shows this will significantly improve your optimism even 6 months later, and raises your success rates significantly.

2.     Write for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours.

This is a strategy to help transform you from a task-based thinker, to a meaning based thinker who scans the world for meaning instead of endless to-dos. This dramatically increases work happiness.

3.     Exercise for 10 minutes a day.

This trains your brain to believe your behavior matters, which causes a cascade of success throughout the rest of the day.

4.     Meditate for 2 minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out.

This will help you undo the negative effects of multitasking. Research shows you get multiple tasks done faster if you do them one at a time. It also decreases stress and raises happiness.

5.     Write one, quick note first thing in the morning thanking or praising a member on your team.

This significantly increases your feeling of social support, which in my study at Harvard was the largest predictor of happiness for the students.

Prior to the inservice, M, A and I made little "happiness challenge kits" for everyone. It included an envelope with 21 pieces of paper for people to write notes to each other, a journal that had a page for each day with places to write down the three things they are grateful for and also a space to write for 2 minutes. Also in the journal were 2 charts to check off when you meditate and when you exercise.

The staff were really receptive and we made it really easy for them with the kit. I have been surprised and pleased with how focused on the positive that I have been. I like taking time to make a specific effort to thank and acknowledge people. I like reflecting on the good things from the day. It really seems to be working and I am proud of challenging the whole staff to do this!

Gut Wrenching

Today I left lunch and went to greet the parents who were early for the closing program. The first man I met was a camp alumni. He was a camper and then a camp staff in the late 80s. I had spoken with him a few weeks earlier. His wife had died a few months before and his son was struggling with it (obviously). His son had gone to a camp earlier in the summer and had called him midway through the week to demand to be picked up. He was nervous about sending him to our camp, but after we talked, he decided to try it.

His son was a quiet kid, but generally happy and seemed to have a really great time. I stood and talked with the dad and shared some things from the week- it was a typical conversation I have a million times every summer.

But then he told me about his experience with camp. He met his wife at camp- they both worked in the kitchen. He told me several wonderful stories about her and about their summers at camp. He had tears in his eyes and told me he hadn't been back in a long time and he hadn't been sure about returning today because he thought it would be too hard. He had tears in his eyes as he looked around.

He asked me if the rumors about camp closing were true. I told him I didn't know and we were hopeful. Once again, I felt like my heart was being ripped out. The board doesn't seem to understand that this place means so much to people and that if we are closing, we need to let people know. We need to give people like this dad, a chance to come back to a place that played such a huge role in his life and say goodbye. I am SO frustrated that I don't have any answers and that in a few months, I am going to have to tell people like him that we are closing.

His son ended up winning camper of the week in his cabin and as I announced his name, I watched his dad openly cry from the back row of benches. I wanted to cry too. There are so many bittersweet moments each day. I don't know what to think of this summer yet, but today I feel sad.

Work Week

Registration this year is excellent and I am really happy because, financial success aside, it is just so much more fun when the week is filled and there are tons of kids. All of the sessions were looking good except this past week- I'm not sure if it was the 4th of July holiday or the theme or what, but as of a month ago, we only had 13 kids registered, so I decided to cancel it. I called all the parents and I was able to move all the kids without any issue, so it was fine- kind of annoying, but it all worked out.

I made Monday-Wednesday optional "work week" and had the staff busy with a bunch of random projects we wouldn't have had time for otherwise. They scraped and repainted cabins all over camp, chopped wood, helped prepare future programming things, etc. They worked really hard and while canceling the week wasn't ideal, it ended up being a blessing in disguise because camp looks gorgeous and I feel even better about programming than I did before.

Thursday was a day of rest- I literally did nothing and it was FABULOUS. Yesterday was another day of rest but also 4th of July so we had a BBQ and went out on the pontoon to watch fireworks. Camp is in a little up north town, but the fireworks display is outstanding!

Today is my third day off in a row and I am getting a little antsy and ready for kids to return and camp life to go back to normal, but I am ready to enjoy another sunny day filled with relaxing!