Tunnybell

My daughter has just decided, after day 1, that she loves whitewater kayaking. Granted she’s still having trouble with wet exits, but she’ll get there - she’s the kind of kid that screeches and recoils if you even fake it that you’re going to tickle her, and that’s even after you’ve told her that you’re going to fake it and won’t actually touch her. Anyway, I reminded her that she needed to talk to the water, to feel its movement and to respond to its cues; work with it to do what you want to do, because if you work against it you’re down for the drown. Her tone became a “yeah, whatEVER” and I let it go.

But isn’t that what you have to do both in your boat and in your life? I’m not saying that you leave everything in life up to the whim of outside forces - on the river or the lake or the sea, wherever you go, you need to pick a direction! But if the current says you’ll have to veer left and circle around before you can end up off to the right side, it’s a good idea to listen. Or you can bomb it and roll and mash your head on a rock and pop up thinking you’re really awesome. You get to choose the path.

Maybe once you reach a certain age (more about that in another post) you start to wonder where you’ll get if you work WITH the elements. So I stand by the comment I made to my kid. Talk to the water and when it talks back, listen. Now go to your room.