EP10: Tragedy, Positive Mindset & Finding Yourself Outside - A Sister's Story

“To think, if we had never gone to Avid, then we probably wouldn’t be the same people,” says 12-year-old Kaylin, who joins the Avid Adventurer podcast with her 15-year-old sister Kendra to discuss the personal transformations they’ve each undergone since first enrolling as campers at Avid 4 Adventures. Though neither had any interest in the outdoors originally, they were motivated to attend camp after experiencing a major family loss. On today’s episode, they tell host Dave Secunda what they learned about overcoming obstacles, and how they’ve become more patient, outgoing, judicious and responsible people in their everyday lives. 

 

Positive thinking is more than just chanting feel-good slogans, Kendra explains, it’s about adopting a growth mindset. Kaylin describes the experiment she tried during volleyball practice at school and what it taught her about the power of positive self-talk, and what repelling down the side of a mountain taught her about overcoming fear. They discuss their future career plans, both of which were inspired by their time with Avid and why Kaylin is so passionate about the principles of the Leave No Trace policy.

 

Learn where the girls are headed next and given their new sense of self-reliance and independence, why their mother feels at peace in sending them there. Hear Kendra explain how backpacking changes your brain chemistry and Kaylin’s crazy experience during a flash flood in Wyoming!

 

Quotes

• “To think, if we had never gone to ‘Avid,’ then we probably would never have been the same people.” (6:17 | Kaylin) 
• “The power of being able to overcome is something that everyone needs in their life. Overcoming, you use it every single day, and whenever you overcome something that means that you’ve either completed the goal, or gotten over a fear, or your life is going to be for the better because you’ve decided to overcome what could have been scaring you or what should have happened sooner but never did.” (11:21 | Kendra)
• “Everyone does this, it’s not just a personal thing, but you’re doing something and then you say, ‘I can’t do this. I’m not good enough at this.’ It’s just a negative mindset. Did you ever hear of growth and fixed mindset? That’s a fixed mindset, thinking you’re not going to ever be able to do something. But having a positive mindset definitely changes everything. Thinking you can do something will definitely make you more likely to strive to go.” (17:29 | Kendra) 
• “I do volleyball, and I decided to test something. Since I do it twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, on Monday I decided to cheer myself on whenever I did something good and then on Thursday I didn’t really do anything. And then on Monday, I realized that I did better than I did on Thursday, and so I realized that if you’re cheering yourself on when you’re doing something good then you’re just basically rewarding yourself when you do something good, you know? So, I think it’s better when you just tell yourself, ‘Yeah, good job.’” (20:51 | Kaylin)
• “All of these experiences backpacking, even go into the real world. You need to know how to push through, you need to know how to work in a team, you need to know what you like and don’t like.” (28:56 | Kendra)
• “It brings my mom a sense of peace knowing that we know how to advocate for ourselves and that we know how to be independent and responsible, even when we’re not around her.” (33:58 | Kendra) 

 

Links

Avid4 Adventure website: www.avid4.com

Avid4 on Instagram: @avid4adventure

Avid4 Adventure on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avid4adventure

Email the host:  [e-mail]