The message with which Swamiji kicked off the camp - the best way to live is to lead a life that realizes our true potential - reminded me of that line from Baz Luhrmann's 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)', which goes something like "do one thing everyday that scares you". True enough, I think realizing our full potential is really intrinsically about constantly stepping into uncharted territory, and pushing ourselves further than we can go, and the activities we did at the camp drove this message home.

As people may have gathered by my reaction to the ghost stories that the boys were telling just before the night walk, I am NOT a huge fan of the dark and creepy and supernatural. I'm quite thankful that the rain and the freezing wind literally froze the fear right out of my brain, so I didn't really get around to getting scared before starting the walk. But while on the walk, I refused to look at the surrounding undergrowth and just focused on the ground in front of me. I guess this parallels to not focusing on anything else but the present, to minimise distractions and get your task done. Another thing I kept telling myself when I started to get creeped out by the shadows was that other people had been there before me, and there would be people following, so I wasn't completely alone and stranded in the middle of nowhere. (Although I must say, the assigned 'scarers' did a kickass job, especially Rohini! My cardiovascular system thanks you for that little jump-start!) But anyway, I guess knowing that you're not totally alone, and having faith in your support system no matter what it is helps. :)

I am also a gigantic chicken about heights. Even though I'd done the flying fox before at BalVihar camp from the exact same spot, I was NOT looking forward to going up that tower again. I was experiencing the same butterflies in the stomach, the same desire to own a time turner so I could either fast forward to the point where I'd got the whole thing over with, or rewind to the point where I decided to sign up for this madness in the first place, and stop myself. But the whole experience wasn't nearly as bad as I had dreaded, partly because I knew I'd done it before and nothing had gone wrong, and partly because nobody SHOVED me off the platform this time round (YES, grumpy old flying fox instructor, I'm talking about YOU). But generally if we go into any situation with a "I must and I can" mentality, its often over sooner than we think, and it often not as painful as we imagined. Disclaimer, this does not apply to injections of any sort - they are all just as evil as you fear they are going to be.

But yes. these two activities were really the highlight of my camp experience as far as the theme of 'Master your Inner Game' goes. The notion that it is important to conquer your fear to succeed isn't groundbreakingly new, but I think we all need reminders sometimes that we have it in us to actually face our fears and come out stronger. We also realize that a lot of our fears are irrational and based on ignorance rather than having experienced something and had a bad experience.

The other activities were brilliant too - Swamiji's talks were really eye-opening and awesome, especially Sunday morning's talk with the introduction to hinduism and the importance of staying committed to our faith and mission. Thank you, Swamiji. :) Many kudos also to Koki for the awesome activities she conducted on Saturday.

Yeah, that's about it. We hope that the few reflections posted here inspire you to email us your own. All the CHYKs, especially Venu and Samyuktha put in a lot of time and effort into planning this camp, and we'd love to hear what you took away from it, whether or not it inspired you in any way. Please send your emails to vaidehi86, jainita or pas.assez.jolie at g-m4il.com and we'll post it up to the blog so it's shared with others. You could write about the abovementioned activities, or more on Swamiji's talks and the movie workshop.

Hopefully we'll see a few new faces at CHYK class this Saturday, 11:15 a.m. Till then, watch this space, and have a great week ahead! Hari Om!