Growing up in the country and using that to my advantage rather than playing inside and watching TV all day has really changed my perspective on life. Whether I was playing with my cousins, pretending to be a mom to the kittens I found in our shed, or playing in our playhouse, I was constantly outside as a child. As a teenager, my summers were spent at the lake wakeboarding, skiing, finding rope swings, or going on day-long boat trips. These experiences and plenty more taught me invaluable lessons and made me realize that being called “tom-boyish” isn’t half-bad.
Growing Up Outside Has Taught Me:
1. Dirt don’t hurt! Sometimes you just gotta rub some in your scrapes and scratches and get on with it.
2. The sun is either your best friend or your enemy, therefore, you should always wear sunscreen.
3. How to pitch a tent.
4.Lizards, crickets, grasshoppers, etc. are not nearly as scary as your City friends make them out to be.
5. The adventures in cartoons don’t compare to the outside.
6. Going on a hike through the woods and cooking a steak on a fire tastes 100x better than any five-star meal from Ruth Chris... and did I mention S'MORES?
7. How to drive just about any ATV, boat/jetski, tractor, or stick-shift/automatic car.
8. How to respect the earth and leave places without a trace. Yes, I may sound like a tree-hugger, but in reality, I just love the earth as it should be – and that is without trash littering the woods.
9. That the middle of the woods with no one around you is just about the most peaceful place ever.
10. That the night sky in the country holds countless stars that most people never get to see.
11. That playing sports all day after school really did keep me out of trouble... even if it was painful at times.
12. That the innumerable lessons those sports taught me about the importance of sportsmanship and competition will be used every single day in the real world.
13. That the world from the top of a tree is so much bigger and better than just the things you see in your small view in front of you.
14. That God took the time to make trees, leaves, and even the tiniest details of the forest so intricate and beautiful, which trumps anything inside that is manmade. So I know he took the time to make me special too.
15. How to hunt and fish.
16. That at the same time you can hunt, you must also love all creatures of the earth and never take their life or hurt them without just cause.
17. How to shoot a gun and beat everyone in the family off the pull in a skeet shoot.
18. How much better life is without wi-fi signal to distract you because of emails, Blackboard, Facebook and Instagram. (P.S. Ask Sen. Lindsay Graham for tips with this one..)
19. How the best things in life cannot be captured in a picture and posted on those previously stated social media sites. Oh.. and you realize Instagram likes don't really matter.
20. How amazing the adrenaline rush from the top of a waterfall is.
21. That my Chacos are my best friend/travel companion/saving grace.
22. How to climb a mountain and cross rivers on slippery rocks without falling.
23. That a nice bonfire is all you need to have the most fun on a Friday or Saturday night.
24. That when you walk in the dark with a flashlight, you can see less than if you trust the night and turn the flashlight off.
25. That while there are scary and unknown things in nature, you are never short of an adventure when going outside and exploring the world rather than watching it through your window or TV screen.
26. That being an “outdoorsy-type” is better than having the best clothes, most money, prettiest house, or the nicest car.
27. That I can be completely content with being a Tom-Boy because I get to see what amazing things the world really offers outside of these four walls.
Growing up outside taught me to be who I am today, and I am grateful for the beautiful lessons I have learned from my outdoor experiences. People these days spending their lives watching too much TV and obsessing over their phones just don’t know what they’re missing out on.
