Well it happened, I completed my first 8 miles of a 1000 mile journey. It was an amazing day spent with friends new and old. I got some pointers from one of the best paddlers in the world Travis Grant. I got to see a bunch ridiculously nice pro paddlers cruise by me with huge smiles on their faces. Thank you again to Jeramie from NSP and of course Bob and Kim from Gorge Performance for helping organize this day. This is the Gorge!!
After paddling today I was looking out at the river and a thought dawned on me. Downwind paddling is an amazing analogy for life.
When you take a step back and look at the big picture it is nothing but beauty. However as you zoom in you will see the intricacies that lie just below that superficial glance.
At times when you are downwinding you simply find a rhythm. You slide in and out of waves with little to no effort. You can see the next steps that will need to be taken. You commit and go. This is the goal as it is with life..
For those of us who have not perfected this skill these times are far more rare. Downwinding like life has times that feel of pure chaos. The wind pounding at your back, water spraying in your face, you will do everything in your power to just simply stay on your feet. This is not always possible and some times regardless of your best efforts you will be brought to your knees. Sometimes you will fall. Sometimes you will fail. You then have to ask yourself can I rise? Can I stand back up and face this chaos again. When you do choose to rise it can be hard to get your momentum back. You will be hit from all directions by forces attempting to bring you back down. You grind and dig in. You fight for it. Then it happens.. You find a glide. A moment of clarity. A moment of effortless movement. You feel pride. You feel a smile stretch across your face. You think you have it all figured out.. Then the chaos returns. This time it is different though. Now you are fighting, you are standing, you will fight with everything you have only to watch people pass you by. Your ego will ask why? Even though deep inside you know the answer. These people have spent more hours in the chaos. They have learned skills to deal with it. They move with what appears to be an effortless grace.
All of this because they have failed. They too have fallen. They too have had to make choices. They chose to practice. They chose to learn. They chose to stand up again and again.