Do you ever feel like there are just some things that you have no business doing at all?

Things that you are destined to fail at?

I took my family camping last weekend… and in typical Stafford fashion it happened at the very last moment.

We had gone to Walmart on Friday for a few groceries, and while Wendy went off to get food I took Evan to wander around the toy section…

We accidentally wound up in the camping section, and twenty minutes later (and $200 bucks lighter) we had a tent, sleeping bags, fishing poles, and flashlights.

By that afternoon we were in the woods, setting up.

Wendy just shrugged her shoulders about the whole thing and rolled her eyes. She is used to me by this point!

Looking back on it, I have no clue what I was thinking: the last time Wendy and I had been camping was well over ten years ago. We had gone twice, and both times it was a total disaster…

But Evan was really, really into it, and I am really, really impulsive, so we figured what the hell.

It was miserable.

Evan and I put up the tent and by the time we had it all set we were both covered in bites and dripping in sweat.

We are both allergic to mosquitoes, it turns out… so we don’t just get bites, we get huge, painful welts.

We tried to fish, and we tried to explore… but it was so friggin hot out, and the bugs were everywhere. At one point I sat in the car with the air conditioning running and thought “why did I ever decide to do this”… and was seriously missing my house, the hammock, and the computer office.

I tried to talk Wendy into packing up and heading home, but she put her foot down. NO WAY, she said. We bought the equipment, we dragged it all out here… and we are damn well going to stay the night.

So we did, and little strange sound kept us up all night.

Never again. Never again.

When we got home we immediately took long, long showers… and sleeping in my bed again never felt so good!

It’s funny, but now, with a couple days gone by to reflect on everything, we have decided that we may just do it again!

After all… looking back on it, fishing with the kids was fun. And sitting around the campfire (after the bugs had eaten their fill) was a blast…

And even more importantly: we did it! We made it through a whole night!

Sure, we made a few mistakes, but we learned a few tricks too…

And next time will be easier.

Does this story maybe remind you of your efforts at succeeding online?

All I can say is to stick with it: it gets easier. Make the mistakes, learn the tricks…

And have fun!

To your success,

Erik