I just spent four days camping.
One of my goals for the year was to find a way to enjoy camping. I have confirmed, through four days of camping with some of the best human beings ever, that I just plain fucking hate camping.
It actually feels good to know that I did my very best and it still sucked. It is okay for me to not like something, even if everyone else loves it. It confuses my friends that I wasn't having a great time, as they all had the time of their lives, but I'm coming to terms with that. I am not being bitchy or pouty or ruining everyone's time if I don't pretend to love sitting in a teeny boat with a finicky engine in the middle of really fucking deep water in the glaring sun for four hours. Also, it's okay if I disagree that in retrospect it was really fun when the boat almost tipped over. Twice.
I honestly tried to have fun, you guys. I really like the friends we were with, and things would be so much easier if I agreed that camping was fun. But I don't. So I have announced that I will camp for up to two nights a year, with a good attitude, but never, ever more than that. I did okay with not whining and complaining and stuff for that long, but three nights was way too many. As we were eating lunch after having packed up on our fourth day, our friends started planning our return trip next year, and I honest-to-God had to stop myself from crying.
I'm going to go ahead and say that I've accomplished Goal #9, even though I didn't enjoy it, because I tried so hard to make it work. Hooray for giving it my best! Hooray for not camping anymore!
Have you tried your best to enjoy something and still managed to hate it? Reassure me here!
I've tried to love running and exercise. Ain't gonna happen! :) I only went camping once as a teenager and decided then and there that sleeping on the ground wasn't my thing. You should applaud yourself for even trying to love camping, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on not loving exercise. So many times, people have told me "Oh, just think of it as fun!" as if it's just a matter of flipping a switch or something and suddenly I'll love being sweaty and sticky and out of breath. We know the truth, you and I.
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