I challenge myself to the Guiding law: to be honest, and true. To be wise in the use of resources I have, to respect myself and others too. To know and to use my gifts and skills, to protect our common world. Live with courage and strength as we share in the joys of the Guiding sisterhood!
--The Guiding Song
When you hear the word Girl Guides, what do you think of? Probably cookies, right? Well, there's a lot more to guiding than just selling cookies, and I'd like to share my perspective on Girl Guides with you.
I've been involved with guiding for almost half of my life. In Canada, Guiding is divided into five main groups: Sparks (Ages 5 & 6), Brownies (Ages 7 & 8), Guides (Ages 9 - 11), Pathfinders (Ages 12 - 14) and Senior Branches (Ages 15 - 18+). I first became involved with Brownies when I was 8 years old, and now I'm 14. Throughout the years, I've had so many great opportunities with guiding, and I've learned so much.
Guiding has enabled me to get more involved with my community. Each year we make a booth for "Heartburn Day," an event that raises money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation through selling chili. We also volunteer at the walk for MS, and have donated a quilt we made to "The Quilt," a fundraiser for breast cancer. I also volunteer with one of the Spark units. Not only is it fun, but it's an easy 10 hours of community service!
One of my favourite Guiding activities is camping. About three times a year, my Pathfinder unit takes a weekend camping trip. The great thing about camping is that every trip is different. One year we went to Collingwood, where we camped at a provincial park. We went for a treetop walk, explored the caves, and rode a zip line. Another year we went to Tobermory, where we stayed in cabins. Tobermory was so beautiful that I had to return there this summer for a camping trip of my own! Finally, there's winter camp, which is totally different. Seven hours out in a cold, packed tent with no room to move may not seem like much fun, but once it's over you're sure to miss it. The thing about camping is that even if the weather is miserable, your luggage gets wet, or you just can't get the hang of cooking over a campfire, once it's all over, you wish you were back at camp.
The opportunities I've had and will have with Guiding are amazing. I've visited places that I didn't know existed! I've made so many friends and met a lot of new people. One of the best opportunities I've had with Guiding is the chance to go to England next summer! Two weeks in another country hanging out with your friends and no parents or siblings? It's going to be an awesome experience.
At the beginning of this article is the Guiding Song, which outlines each of the Seven Guiding Laws. Every day, without even realizing it, I incorporate these seven laws into my life.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: be honest and trustworthy
The first of the guiding laws is pretty straight forward. Because I've always tried to follow this law, people know that they can trust me, and what I say. I try not to use this to my advantage, as that is breaking the law itself. Being honest and trustworthy isn't just a quality for Girl Guides though! Everyone should try to follow this law.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: use my resources wisely
At first, I always thought that this law meant to conserve the Earth's natural resources, but I now realize that using your resources wisely means more than just being nice to the environment. One of the most important challenges of this law, is to not take your resources for granted. When you think resources, you probably think trees, or wind, or water, but those aren't the main kind of resource this law is talking about. Your resources are what you have: your family, your education, your body, and even your money are important 'resources' that you use every day. Sometimes you don't even realize how important these resources are, until you can't use them anymore.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: respect myself and others
This law is one of the hardest laws to follow, because you're the only one who has complete control over it. Having someone else respect me isn't going to make me respect myself. Self-respect is something you have to learn on your own. Through guiding, I've learned that what other people think of me isn't important, and I think that's one of the most important lessons I've learned growing up. Respecting others is just as important as respecting myself. Can you even respect yourself if you don't show respect for other people? I don't think I could. This law is one of the hardest to follow, but also one of the most important. I challenge you to follow this law.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: recognize and use my talents and abilities
This is my favourite law. I don't think that I understood this law very well at first, but now that I do I find that I follow it almost every day. Do you understand this law? Every person has their own talents and abilities. Through this law, we are challenged to know what our talents and abilities are, so that we can better ourselves and the people around us. For example, if you had a talent for math, you should use that talent to get yourself a good mark in math class, but also to help others who aren't as good at math as you. At times, following this law can be a burden, but that does not take away its importance. You should never try to hide any of your talents.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: protect our common environment
Yet another important law! This law is very straight forward. It challenges me to do what I can to help the environment. Every day I try to make an extra effort in conserving energy, recycling, and even doing small things like using both sides of the paper. Hopefully you do your part for the environment as well.
The Guiding Law challenges me to: live with courage and strength
I don't think I have a very good understanding of this law. Living with courage and strength may seem simple, but it's not always easy. I think that this law challenges me to show courage and strength for others, as well as myself. What do you think of this law?
The Guiding Law challenges me to: share in the sisterhood of Guiding
Girl Guides is an amazing organization. This law challenges me to spread the word about Guiding, and to share with others what I've learned through my participation.
Now that I think about it, Girl Guides hasn't really changed my life, but rather helped to shape my life in a way that I'm proud of.
--rochrox
