navigating

 i've wintered my kayak for the season but already can't wait to get back out on the river.  the navigational skills used in boating have come in handy during the last couple of years and i'm sure will continue to help as we approach a new year.

what i enjoy about paddling is the freedom of being self-propelled; that what i ate for breakfast is my fuel and that i can join in with nature instead of adding a lot of noise or pollution to it.  

i also like boating the same body of water in different seasons so as to get to know it really well.  the literal ebbs and flows of the riverbank, heron rookery, algae blooms, eddies, all of it speaks to a system alive.

most often i will start paddling against the current and then turn around for the return trip letting it push me.  sometimes i do this in reverse.  there's a time to go with the current of culture and a time to paddle against it.

and i think about all the navigating i've done, with people, situations, and events; constantly looking ahead to read the situation like the river.  are there potentially dangerous rapids ahead?  what is under the water? is there a convergence i need to be aware of?

and i realized, it is way more effort (and worth it) to navigate rather than to have it all decided ahead of time.  as much as i would like to take the easy all or nothing approach, life just isn't like that and is especially amped up in this regard, especially at the holidays.  otherwise i would just be floating aimlessly, not paddling, and i'm rather proud of myself for all of the flexibility, adaptability, and resiliency i've discovered in myself.

if i'm honest, it was tempting for my personality to check into a monastery for christmas, maybe stay a couple of weeks in total silence.  but the language of the river came back to me, asking me to navigate once again, this time through the holidays.  not avoiding, but rather taking each day and situation and person as it flowed to me and finding what would be best given the circumstances.

these skills serve well, both in the boat and in everyday life.  

what navigational skills have you discovered in yourself and what tools help you "read the water" ahead of you each day?