The Five Finger Contract

I was at an Christian Adventure Camp recently-where I got to trek, walk upstream rivers, down the side of a rocky hill(abseiling), kayaking etc.

 The whole experience brought to light a new side of me and inside of me ,of God, the people around me and the world around me!

The View on reaching the top of an Uphill Trek

 Sometimes I wish I could go to this particular camp (which happens several times a year at ‘Avalanche’, a place near Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India) with some of the people I think I know well – because-at this particular setting I want to see if they’re the same people or are different.

This is because at the camp site there’re no mirrors (but I suppose you could carry one-but cameras are allowed), electronic crutches (phones rarely get a signal)or electricity available to us even.

It’s also quite cold, and the activities sometimes push you to the edge of your comfort zones- Generally a new side of a person- one I'm not used to-surfaces.

Does that make sense?

 People are forced into a situation unlike any other, so they’re usually different. Sometimes it’s a good different – for example somebody I once thought was a quiet and thoughtful person in the city– turned out to be the kind of person who grabbed my wrist as I slipped off the edge of a large slippery rock and became a sort of life saviour to me in the forest.

Sometimes it’s an ugly different – because some people hate it..I’m not quite sure why. I can't put a finger on what exactly happens here.

But do you get the drift?

Getting to the point of this blog post, there’s something I have to share- It's called " The fiver finger contract"

It's something the camp guides made us "sign" (by raising our right hands and bringing our fingers together- sort of like blinking for the hand)

(Ok, Honestly, I don’t remember if they called it the five finger contract, or something else – and I didn’t write it down when the Camp Instructors said it- so I’m relying on memory for this, so here goes.)

The CONTRACT:

 

1.       Respect yourself enough to never say “I can’t do it” without even trying.

 

2.       Respect others enough to never say “You can’t do it” without even encouraging them to try first. Let not a discouraging / negative comment escape your lips.

 

3.       Respect the environment. Take care of it.

 

4.       Respect the Instructor.

 

5.       Respect the equipment/ tools you use.

The impact this contract has (when followed to the T) is inexplicably cool.

One girl at camp suggested that we ought to apply it onto our lives as well, not just for camp.

 I know the word ‘Respect’ (repeated several times in the contract)sometimes makes us cringe – but I think it’s beautiful what it could result in- under certain circumstances.

I've challenged myself to follow this.

Would you sign this contract?

Love

Jeff