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Why go camping?
Life can be very unpredictable due to the many challenges that we face almost on a daily basis. Not knowing what issues will come our way may create a mental atmosphere of uneasiness, worry, and stress. This situation is normally counterproductive in trying to achieve a peaceful life, but some of us can be successful in finding ways to evade or eleviate the impact of stress.
One of these ways to help tone down the impact of stress on yourself is to try to displace our focus on the negative situation that is getting your attention, and is creating a stressful mindset. Stress and anxiety are created in our own minds as a result of dealing with a unacceptable situation. In order to manage the impact of stress, we must determine how to control the response that we allow it to have on us. We are ultimately in control of how stress affects us, and we need to attempt and encourage in ourselves ways to manage our interpretation of how and to what degree to allow stress to control our lives.
A productive way to dealing with stress is to place our attention on other thoughts and activities that we find amusing, and that we receive gratification in thinking about and performing. Getting involved with nature is one means we can use to achieving this objective. Just the idea of planning an outing into the countryside can create positive thinking and a sense of fun and excitement that will lift a person's spirit and outlook on life.
The simple task of going out to a nearby park and peacefully just sitting out among the trees and the birds can be a good start. This can create a mindset that the outdoors may be able to provide a positive impact on your mood. Being outside soaking up some sunlight can have a liberating affect from the confines of the four walls we experience from time to time from being indoors.
To fully explore the advantages you can receive from the camping experience, planning a trip to one of the National Park campgrounds would be the best thing to fully discover what benefits it can provide for you. The first experience that you will witness is the feeling that you have escaped the hustle and bustle of city life. Out in the wilderness, time almost stands still. You find your self in an environment where there is no competition, no rush, and no need to do anything but just spend idle time relaxing.
Set yourself in a nice comfy chair or table, look around to see what nature has to reveal to you. Watch as the trees sway back and forth in reaction to the breeze that will blow from time to time throughout the park. Take a very passive look at the experience of just taking in what you are experiencing and clearing
your mind of any lingering thoughts which may be causing you stress or concern. You will realize that being out in nature will help you slow down the pace of life that we all find ourselves in. And this will allow us to clear our negative thoughts, and bring us to a more positive state of mind. This simple exercise will immediately reveal to you what getting back to nature can do for you.
After awhile, a surprising development will begin to reveal to you that you didn't expect. Some of those stressful thoughts and problems that you had been thinking about for which answers were not being evident, suddenly begin to make sense. Thoughts and plans of how to deal with obstacles you were experiencing now are beginning to materialize in your ideas and are unfolding in your thinking. This will be proof that nature has its place in relieving stress, and in that scheme, clears your mind to allow yourself to find the solutions you have been looking for.
Some of the natural wilderness sites that you could possibly be a witness to, such as magnificent breathtaking views of a comforting waterfall or that of a calm, placid, and peaceful lake can take you mentally to a place of peace and tranquility. The landscapes that we find ourselves in, tend to be taken for granted. It seems that on a daily basis we get caught up solving daily problems and we don't take the time to notice and appreciate what our natural surroundings are offering. The peace of mind is there if we allow the effect of nature to nourish our consciousness and thoughts and bring us a peace of mind.
These positive reactions that can be experienced can be multiplied by sharing these moments. Take along on your nature visits family and friends that you are close to. Times like these can be jointly experienced. Relationships that you have with people close to you can grow deeper and more meaningful when they are participating with you in these moments of fun, excitement, and awe in the wonders of our wilderness.
There are plenty of moments to share with close family and friends. There is the experience of learning new camping tasks together. Such things could be learning how to setup a tent, start and manage a campfire, learning new knots that are helpful out at the campsite, cooking interesting basic great tasting meals, having fun with fishing and water sports together, and learning mutually the useful knowledge of first-aid. Activities such as a walk on some of the trails available, or even a bike ride could also be occasions that lasting memories are made of.
One of the best times to be had at a camping site is in a nice cool comfortable evening. Everyone seated around the campfire, roasting wieners and marshmallows, and having fun talking about the adventures of the day. In the evening after darkness has set on the camping grounds the most spectacular view of all is up in the sky. Looking up to see what the sky has revealed to you is awe inspiring. You will be able to see thousands of stars shinning and flickering throughout the nights. This is something we normally don't get to see on a daily basis in the city. We go through our daily lives, completely forgetful and unaware of the this majestic light show that is always above us, and we never give ourselves the opportunity to appreciate what we have up in the evening sky.
Camping has allot to offer that we at times don't fully realize or appreciate. Nature has the power to mentally clarity our impressions of the world around us and helps us better understand how we individually are meant to realize our place in the world that we share with the people around us. The effects of spending time in the wilderness has the impact of emotionally rejuvenating us to bring us back to a stable path of positive mindfulness.
Sometimes we all have the need to recharge our social batteries. One way to do this is to make an effort to spend some time alone. We all are surrounded by or friends, family, and casual work partners. These relationships may tend to guide our pace of life. We need and want to conform to the time schedules that others ask of us, and we are happy to do so. The most demanding of those requests normally come from our job responsibilities and that is expected. Deciding to take some time to be alone is an occasion to relax and unwind physically and also mentally. Beginning your down time experience should be focused on rejuvenation and not on goal setting during this period. Doing nothing and having no expectaions as a result is perfectly fine. Subconsiously, the mental refresh will be an automatic function, and not an effort that is necessarily expected to yield a specific outcome. Just sit back, unwind, and let your mind heal itself in autopilot mode. Taking this time to yourself will allow the opportunity to unwind those negative thoughts going through our head, and recharge your batteries. This time will allow you the effort to explore your feelings and explore the reasons of why you may initailly take certain positions on issue that you face on your daily life. It may be a time where ideas just may begin to freely percolate in your head. This may lead to solutions to some of your problems that you may have been contemplating over time. It always a good practice to step back from a problem that we are attempting to solve, and just let your mind relax and let ideas naturally flow in. This alone time would be exactly how that can possibly happen. But remember, don't expect solutions, don't force it, and don't plan for it, just rewind and maybe this could happen. Give it time and the fog will lift on its own.
This is also a time when pleasant memories should be a focus of your thoughts. Reflect on pleasant memories from the past that have always lifted up your spirits. We all have comforting childhood memories and experiences that resonate on emotions that we belonged and were cared for. These memories are the underlying impressions that were made on us that have formed the person who we are today. Bathing in this positive sentiment is the fuel to bring about a positive frame of mind that will be the catalyse to self healing and regeneration. Planning a little alone time for ourselves, especially out on a camping trip tends to have the greatest impact. Maybe some of the reasons is that we are alone out in the wilderness. There is no neighbor down the street that normally visits from time to time. There is no random visit from friends or family, or even there is no occasional casual conversaton at the grocery store. Out in nature we have no subconscious need to maintain a social behavioral disposition. This is an atmosphere that gives you one of the greatest feelings of isolation for yourself. There is allot of research that has been done concerning the effects of being outdoors alone can be very beneficial to accomplishing self healing from a sensitivity of maintaining a social frame of mind. The wilderness has a way of generating that primal temperament that is achieved through experiencing the feeling of momentarily being in harmony with Mother Nature.
