New Year, New Values

It’s January—which means that we are full of great intention to set new priorities and goals for 2020. Yet, before we know it, it will be March and the resolutions of the New Year can seem like a lifetime ago. So how do we slow down time? How can we carry our best intentions into motion this New Year?

Since the founding days of camp, YSSC has set out to grow campers in relationships, skills, character and faith. If your child has gone to camp before, you likely have heard this. Camp has decidedly claimed that these four mantras are what we hold as our values. Because we’ve set those as our core values, we filter everything we do through the lens of these priorities. What activities our campers do, what events we commit to, how we train out staff—everything we do must tie back to our values, otherwise, we don’t do it. It’s as simple and difficult as that. If we can’t tie any part of our program back to our values, we choose not to do it. And let me tell you—there are plenty of incredible things that we could do but we can’t say yes to every great camp activity and program out there.

Similarly, I bet your family has a long list of events, activities and groups that you could be a part of. But this January, instead of saying yes to everything, what if we practiced saying no? Now is the perfect time of the year to sit down with your family and pick your year’s mantra. What do you want to value most this year? How will this value shape what each person is involved with? Are you willing to say no to the things that are good but not part of this year’s values?

 

Ready to try it out? Create a fun evening of it! Gather your family, have some good snacks or sweets, and brainstorm some values. Once you have one or two values, have each person think through how they can pursue that value by either saying yes or saying no to something in their life.