In Life you have to Keep Paddling

Have you ever sailed, canoed or kayaked? In my lifetime I have done all three and never really thought about what I was doing and the forces working for and against me while I was out on the water. We could start with the current, the water wants to move in a certain direction and the more of your vessel that is under the water the more the current effects the boat. This can be overcome by a few things like the sail or engine power. Then there is the wind. You and the bulk of your vessel are exposed to the wind. I currently kayak often for health reasons and have noticed a few things about what I do when I an out there and think maybe human nature plays a role in some of it. I also find it a great lesson for life. Let’s start with paddling into the wind. I paddle to increase my strength and stamina. So when I turn to face the wind I feel its’ force pushing against me. When it is stronger I paddle harder and a bit faster to fight that force. I want to beat it! But when the wind is at my back for some reason I slow my paddle down as if to say I’ll jet the wind take me there. Do you ever do that in life? When things are cruising along and life’s wind is at your back you take it easy and let it roll. I have. And here is where it got tricky for me. Sometimes we stop paddling (putting any effort in) and we are at the complete mercy of the winds. When that happens our kayak goes whatever direction it wants to. It begins to veer off course and take us in directions we didn’t intend to go. So then we have to frantically paddle to correct our course. This action struck me as a real life lesson. Effort in life must always be exerted. We can not ever really sit back and let life take over. Because it will take us places we don’t really want to go. When things are good don’t stop because that’s when things get bad very quickly. But when things are rough find that extra energy to push through those moments. Paddle harder when life is coming at you. And don’t stop paddling even when life seems to be behind you pushing yo in the direction of your dreams. This isn’t to say never rest but there is time to rest and we all need it to build our strength back up for the challenges. But once you get out on the waters of life paddle as if your life’s dreams depended on it. Even in good times, but especially in bad.