Why I Take My Young Daughter Hunting

We've had a few people ask, "Why would you take a 6-year-old girl Elk hunting?"
The truth is, because I want her to know she can.
My daughter craves adventure. I love that about her, and I want to stoke that fire in her soul. So when she asked to come hunting, saying "No" didn't cross my mind.
See, we tell little girls that they can be whatever they want to be.
Hairstylist? Get it, girl!
Scientist? More power to ya!
CEO? Put those boss skills to work, chica!
The trails have been blazed, and little girls know they can do it all because they've watched the women before them do it.
The thing about being an outdoorsman though is that it teaches little girls (and everyone for that matter) not just that you CAN be self-sufficient, but that you are CAPABLE of being self-sufficient.
By camping and waking up before sunrise, she's learning that some things are worth showing up for.
By going on challenging hikes, she's learning that sometimes hard work is the only way to get what you want.
By standing up everytime she falls, she's learning about perseverance.
By taking a little nap on a hillside, she's learning that it's ok to rest.
By lifting each other up and enjoying our family time, she is learning we will always be here and we are always proud of her efforts.
By harvesting a bull, she learned exactly where our meat comes from.
By helping us process and package that meat, she learned how we feed our family and why we don't waste food.
Most important of all, she learned that life is tough, but so is she.

Comments

When Insecuritues Control You

Have you ever thought about the power you give to your insecurities? I remember one day a while back, I was getting dressed for the gym and I realized all of my leggings were still in the washing machine. My only option for the leg-day ahead was compression shorts. I died a little inside thinking about how people might judge the cellulite on my legs or think i was too big to be wearing shorts at all. Why couldn't I have been born during a time period where curves and rolls were attractive? But, then again, booty shorts wouldn't even be a thing in that day and age, and I surely would already be dead from small pox or stoned to death for one sin or another by now. I digress. I closed the drawer and decided I could just skip the gym that day. And then it hit me. I was so insecure about other peoples opinions of MY body, that I would rather stay home than risk someone thinking something negative about me. What kind of life is that? What kind of example was that setting for ...

Maybe Its Not About Being Unbreakable

My husband and I have been married for 7 amazing, trying, blessed, and chaotic years. We met at a stoplight when we were teenagers, and after falling in love with someone I met in such a fate-type of way, I started to believe we were unbreakable. We were so destined to be together that God timed our lives down to the exact second that a light would turn red and gave both of us the courage to talk to the stranger in the car next to us. I've truly believed that we could face ANYTHING because I had the partner I was meant to have. Maybe it's the 7-year itch; Maybe its postpartum hormones; Maybe it's watching some close friends go through a divorce; But this year, I started to falter in that confidence. I started to wonder if there was such a thing as fate or destiny. Maybe every couple had their breaking point. That fear effectively turned me into a crazy person. I was hell-bent on "fixing us." I listened to podcasts, I read, I took quizzes, and I asked for advic...

You Are Responsible For Your Own Feelings

I originally thought I wanted to talk about Holiday eating on this #FitnessFriday, but I've had a change of heart. I want to talk instead about our mental health during the holidays. More specifically I want to talk about the power that we give our relatives over our happiness. Go ahead and slip into some bell bottoms and put a flower in your hair, because I'm going to drop some hippy shit on you, but hang with me. YOU are entirely responsible for the way you let other people make you feel and YOU get to decide how much joy you take away from your holiday. And that can be a really hard pill to swallow when you are sitting across the table from a family member who you just don't vibe with. So how do you combat that? How do you push away their negativity and let yourself enjoy the festivities? The truth is, it starts with your own thoughts. In these days leading up to Christmas, take the opportunity to find the positive in the things that are about to happen. I don...

Tales Of The Wild Things

Search This Blog