This post is a prelude post to one that Dr. Mike will write in a couple days. The funny thing, is that he doesn’t know it yet. We haven’t talked about this at all, but I am POSITIVE that he will be eager to write. The reason is that he spent the weekend at Maximized Living’s Camp Transformation. I recall being there quite well, and hope that it leaves that lasting impression on Dr. Mike.
So what is Camp Transformation? I like to affectionately refer to these types of camps, as psycho babble camps. Where there is a significant push to alter your state of mind, but exposing you to your false realities. I will say, after a half dozen similar type camps over the years, this one was the best. Led by Maximized Living (I have been a part of this group for nearly a decade now), you know you are going to have Christian leadership, which I am a fan of. In addition, you know you are going to feel greater purpose as a chiropractor. All good for guys like us!
So the thing about psycho babble camps (again, this is with affection, seriously), you need to wear down the body, if you want to get to the mind. Same idea as torture, but the torture is much more acceptable. The second camp like this that I had ever gone to, simply used straight physical weariness, with seminars inside one room lasting for the entire day, days straight. It worked well, most people couldn’t hide anything about themselves after two days of that… then there was still a third day!
The first such camp for me, was Total Solutions. On a mountain in Colorado in the snow, looking out at Pike’s peak in the distance. Yep, you might have guessed it, altitude. We hung out at 11,000 feet and worked out in the snow, and sat in class, and worked out in the snow, and sat in class. But the best way to do to wear down the body for such events? Use the “basic training” style. Work them hard, and when they think it is over, work them harder, then when they think they are going to get a break, work them again!
I am not sure if Dr. Mike’s experience was in a rainy Orlando, or a sunny one. I was in Biloxi MS where it should have been 70 degrees, and instead it was 49 as a high, and I was outside for the entire day. I wonder how that weather would have helped break down a body. Nonetheless, that is not my point of writing this sprout.
The dreaded Orange Groves!
If you have never been woken up out of a deep sleep to be pushed into a workout, you don’t know what you’re missing. Absolute hell. Think about how you feel in those first few minutes you wake up. Now, imagine it was abrupt, in the middle of your full sleep, and suddenly you are thrust into activity. My first experience with this was as a pre-teen, at the Howie Meeker hockey camp in Potsdam NY (the frozen tundra).
We were woken, and within 20 minutes on the ice fully suited up skating speed drills back and forth. I remember meeting a kid from NY City, and though I was in Buffalo, it was my first time meeting anyone from the city, and the first time hearing that accent. I also remember, it was the first time I realized how awful it could be to push yourself to the limit physically. But I also liked it.
At Camp Transformation, you run. You run, and you do burpees, and you do sit-ups, and push-ups, and then you run. We ran a 5k one morning before there was any light in the sky. And as the sun came up, we were in the orange groves. Thick sand, like a panhandle beach. I am good with my distance, so I was pretty confident we were running 800M at a time (half mile). We were in groups, lined up facing into the orange groves between rows of trees, “run until you run into a line of trees in your way then turn around. Run as hard as you can.”
By the third time, I had finished first the prior three times, and with no idea as to how long we would be doing this, I decided to ease up some. At the end of that run “Eric, you can run faster than that, go back in and get your team, run fast, and help push them to get back.” As we approached the road where the leader was standing, “everyone in Eric’s team. He slacked on the last one, so he is going to stay here with the other groups, while all of you run an extra one”.
Ooooh, I had been singled out for the whole purpose of teaching a lesson. Well, so it would seem, but the reality was, it helps bring us to that place where we can dig deep and further understand ourselves. I can tell you, I didn’t hold anything back the rest of the time.
I am good at the physical stuff, that is one thing that I was reinforced at Camp. I tend to “know it” too, that was another thing reinforced at camp. Learning that I can become prideful very quickly, and ultimately, figuring out why that is. You know, for me, it wasn’t centered around a daddy issue, I know the reason, and it was family that drives that in me, but not my immediate family.
If you have never given in to a level of effort that breaks you down, you need to. It is worth it. And if it takes three days in order to reach that level, then you need to spend three days at it. Let’s look forward to hearing how Dr. Mike’s time went!
Be well and Be blessed! – Dr. E