After 4 weeks of immersing ourselves in NEP life (logos, branding, elevator pitches, storytelling, newsletters, motivational counseling and everything in between), we deemed it only fair that we get out for the weekend and re-energize ourselves. But hey, we are all in the health industry so no, our idea of relaxation isn’t binge eating and lazying. Instead, we headed to a camp called ‘Natventures’ (nature + adventure and the camp stood every last bit true to its name!) based in Wada (Palghar), Maharashtra (about 100 kilometers from Mumbai).
Our getaway was ripe (pun intended) with mango trees and brinjal plants. But glorious food and freshly barbecued vegetables apart, we immersed ourselves into nature without cellphone network and went ziplining, crossed an extremely shaky burma bridge (with an exhilarating freefall at the end), a slightly less shaky but equally challenging ladder bridge, crossed onto the other side of the river by standing on to one rope and holding on to another (Commando Crossing for the initiated), took on an obstacle race together as a team and went swimming! Phew! Finally ended the night with lots of intriguing stories from our professional and personal lives and ample board games! Power packed and exhausting day but worth every bit :)
In all transparency, we didn’t exactly have an agenda for this trip outside of just having fun. However, what we realized is that every activity had something to teach us and that there are synergies everywhere between our adventure packed day and our entrepreneurial journeys!
A few deep realizations during our adventure trip:
When life gives you lemons, make a lemonade! - When we reached the camp and were greeted by a scorching temperature of 38 degrees, we had a choice. Either we wait for the heat to alleviate or we withstand the heat and go one with our plans anyway. Of course we weren’t going to sit around waiting for a situation we can’t control to alleviate! We got on with our day and that’s exactly how we are learning to look at our nutrition practices too!
Don’t be afraid to be take a plunge down the river of uncertainty! It will certainly take you
someplace you always wanted to be! - While zip-lining, there was a moment when we needed to jump (with harnesses of course!) but the harness didn’t stop our heartbeats from racing and our stress hormones from shooting up. However, eventually, all of us somehow gathered the courage and jumped! What we learned here was that certain situations demand that we take a leap of faith and some much needed risks because they lead us to wonderful paths and journeys (just like the view on the way down from the zipline).
When the world is shaking, stay still, calm and focused! Activities such as the burma bridge, the ladder bridge and the commando crossing taught us the importance of not losing our focus, looking only at the task ahead for now till we figure out the big picture (we would definitely get petrified if we were to look down!) and staying calm even when things seem adverse and shaky (the bridges and ropes were quite literally shaky!)
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together! We would have never completed the obstacle race all by ourselves. Teamwork was constantly needed and careful cooperation, coordination and clear communication were the cornerstones to optimal and effective functioning.
Too many of us are not living our dreams, because we are living our fears! Finally, when the time came to take a dip in the lake, we discovered so many of us suffer from a deeply embedded fear of water which even though others may perceive as irrational (especially in the presence of a life jacket), we felt was quite real. But once again, many of us didn’t let fear guide us. We trusted the people around us who were willing to help and jumped without thinking too far ahead! Outcome? A life-altering experience of doing something we never thought we were actually capable of!
That was all about our short, adventurous trip! It was indeed a refreshing getaway and we took back not only memories and experiences, but also lifelong learnings!
