A Reason to Do Something You Hate

A couple of weeks ago my 25-year-old son asked me if I wanted to go to Yosemite Park in California with him to camp for 5 days.  This boy knows I hate camping, and that I would be perfectly happy to never have to go camping again.  Since he was going there on the way to a family vacation, and not coming straight back none of his friends wanted to go and drive separately.  I was the only family member who had the "time off" to go, so he took at chance and asked me to go with him.  My immediate first thought was "heck no!"  My actual response was, "Are you serious?"  After mulling it over for a while and talking to my husband about it, I realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I would never get again.  Spend five days one-on-one with my grown son who no longer lives at home?  I would be crazy NOT to accept!  So I told him "yes".  The rest of the family about flipped when they found out, especially since I have spent the last month trying to get everyone to go camping together WITHOUT me so I could be left home alone (a dream I have).  

As I was preparing to go, and packing those hiking boots I was hoping never to take camping again, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into; but as soon as my son showed up, all excited and ready, I knew it was going to be an adventure!  We spent the next 5 days driving, talking, hiking, viewing breathtaking mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls; walking around huge sequoia trees and into cold streams, talking and meeting new people, and vying for the very few camping spots available.  We cooked dinner over an open fire, and made many new friends.  It was a very sweet adventure, and one I would have missed if I had stayed home because I "hate camping".  

Have you ever had times in your life when you didn't want to do something, but then afterward you were glad you did?  I have had this happen many, many times.  I have also had times where I did not do the thing I did not want to do, and ended up regretting it.  

Why would we choose to do things we don't want to do?  I am learning that if the potential positive benefits outweigh the reason we don't want to do something, it is usually worth it to do it.  Like me and camping.  The positive benefit of so much one-on-one time with this child totally outweighed my finicky dislike for getting dirty and smelling like campfire.  

Next time you are faced with something you don't want to do, ask yourself what are the potential positive benefits.  If they outweigh the reasons you don't want to do something, you may want to think twice.