Finding balance
I really like the quote below from William Arthur Ward.
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
I remember my first sailing experience in Ireland with my best friend Archie.
We stayed in a beautiful summer house in a place called Schull on the south coast.
I had never sailed before but was eager to get going and experience life on the water which is interesting as I had been a dreadful swimmer and had fallen in water multiple times including whilst punting down the river cam in Cambridge with family and on my mums wedding day into a fishpond nonetheless.
Archie was the helmsman, I was operating the jib.
We set the boat up with guidance from Archie’s dad and were soon out onto the shimmering water, castle-rock in the distance.
After lots of practice and plenty of capsizing we were on.
The sailing regatta Bronze fleet.
Starting line.
Boats in motion.
I remember seeing a beautiful fireball which I think came in the top three by the end of the race. An epically constructed thing. Ours was bluer and probably lighter in weight. At the time I was simply happy to be doing something enjoyable – which the whole holiday provided in buckets full.
Positions.
Ready.
GO!
We were facing the opposite way round.
In spite of all the obstacles we actually did pretty well (I think) in the end and it was jolly good fun so thanks to Archie for sorting that one.
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The point of this post is to remind those who read it to choose practical solutions to problems over continuous optimism or pessimism.
Despite the setbacks from the very beginning of the sailing race, continuous adjustments were made with the sails to enable us both to work as a team and put on a good show.
It’s straightforward, with social media especially, to get on the positive train and not actually have made that much progress which is why when moving forwards, balance is everything. It’s never a good idea to have too much of everything. Instead, do more of the things that uplift and energise you and minimise the things that don’t.
