I am boarding a flight from chilly Detroit to sunny Sarasota with my wife and kids. I sit down next to my boys Hunter and River and my wife Nadine sits with Fischer.
Before I finish stuffing the coats into the overhead compartment, Hunter and River both belt out, “Dad, where are the iPads?” I roll my eyes and hand them the tablets.
Looks like I’m using my laptop on this flight, I think to myself, oh well, so much for Zero Dark Thirty. As I look down at my iPhone, I say to myself, Yikes, we have become total tech toy addicts!
Now don’t get me wrong, as the founder of Outdoor Hub, the world’s leading outdoor media company online, I have nothing against technology — in fact I love it! However, as awesome as technology is, it should never replace or destroy our attachment to nature. It is within nature that we can slow down and take a moment of calm, a moment of presence. How many of us do not need a little more presence in our lives? Being outdoors has a way of restoring our soul.
I love nature and I immerse my kids in it every chance I get. My family knows what nature does to restore my soul, they see how excited I become and how aware I am when I am in nature. In this ADD-crazed partial-attention society we live in, they get to see their dad in his element. They can sense how present I am there with them, unlike too many times where I am sneaking looks at my iPhone before I put them to bed, or as I am watching a tee ball practice. I wish I could say I’m not guilty of these things, but I am, and that is more the reason why I hit the woods, or a lake, or a field with them for a relaxing walk every chance I get.
My action item for you this weekend is to take some time with your family or whomever you are with and get your butts outdoors.Take a few minutes to sit by a big tree, stroll through the woods, or sit somewhere and gaze at a pretty view, a park perhaps. Leave the phones, the tablets, the laptops, and any other gadgets and be one with nature. When we take to Mother Nature in this way she has a way of providing us the ultimate return on investment by raising our state of presence and recharging our batteries, it’s just plain good for the soul!
Much love, and have an awesome weekend all! If you’ve got one to share, tell me a story about how checking into nature recharged your batteries.
