What Do I Do With My Hands?

Four nights a week as well as every weekend, there was a ball in my hand. For all my adolescent years, my only dream, my only goal, my only focus was to play ball. As a tri-sport athlete, my schedule was full, and my thoughts could not occupy or entertain any other topics than the next sporting commitment on my already maxed out calendar. Every day of my life, from 8 years old to 20 years old, was accounted for. At first it was basketball, then came softball, then came track. There were camps, private instruction, practice, and practice after practice if you know what I mean. Of course, there were also games, tournaments, and meets. My life was consumed with nothing but a ball. Through those commitments, through the grueling, “I can’t, I have practice,” times, I made friends and memories of a lifetime. I learned the life skills and lessons that made me who I am today.

Even though it felt like every hour of my day was accounted for, there were those times far and few between that life felt like it had paused. Those were the times that I found myself in a lock-on just a few feet below my dad, or with my back against a tree waiting on a gobble to echo over the ridge, or waist deep in a frigid North Georgia stream waiting on a trout to grab on to my rooster tail. Those times in which life felt still are the times where I learned to BREATHE. Those were the times that taught me what to do with my hands when the ball wasn’t in them. Through my 20s and now at 32, God has reminded me that when I don’t know what to do with my hands and my mind is racing, that I can find my pause and peace in the woods or a stream. Those are the places where I find myself again.

DGD founder Cade Brock during an outreach fishing event in Athens.

My own personal experience relates so closely to the heart of the mission of DGD Outdoors. Because I understand what they’re doing and what they’re encouraging, I’m passionate about sharing who they are and what they’re doing. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and work with former UGA football player and UGA alum, Cade Brock. Cade understands the pressure of being an athlete at the highest level, but fortunately, somewhere along the way, someone showed him what to do with his hands when the football wasn’t in them. Now Cade is aimed on that same mission. He’s motivated to take athletes from all walks of life into the woods, fields, and lakes. DGD Outdoors is taking young men who may have never held a bow or fishing rod in their hand and teaching them the pause and peace that the outdoors provides. DGD then takes it a step further by taking these athletes into our community and using their athletic platform to connect with young children. In these communities, they’re building relationships with these young children on the foundation of enjoying and celebrating the outdoors. Through snagging a young man’s first fish or harvesting their first deer, I truly believe DGD is not only touching lives, but saving them as well.

I charge you with the same mission as DGD. What are you going to do with your hands? I encourage you to put a fishing rod or a bow in your hands and GO OUTSIDE. Then do the same with your family and friends and take them outside. Live life outside, together. It’s where you’ll find the peace and pause of life. When you don’t know what else to do with your hands, it’s simple; go outside.

Kimberly Lee is GON’s Event Coordinator… among her many talents, hence her nickname the “Force Of Nature” by GON Publisher Daryl Kirby. Kimberly’s Force Of Nature blog appears regularly at GON.com and in GON magazine.