| My sailboat taught me quite a bit about navigating life. | | | | navigating life? My first lesson was that there are |
| As a boy I rode my bike several miles to the Charlotte | | | | times in life when I can leave everything else behind |
| pier and watched the sailboats make their way out of | | | | and be one with nature. Just me and the wind whistling |
| the Genesee river channel and sail off over the | | | | in the sails. I learned to appreciate the peaceful |
| horizon on Lake Ontario. I wished I could be on one of | | | | moments in life. |
| them. | | | | Sailing has taught me how to deal with the adversity. I |
| Some years ago a coworker told me he was taking | | | | remember once venturing out into Lake Ontario among |
| sailing lessons at the Buffalo harbor. Intrigued, I signed | | | | four foot waves. I managed only to round the break |
| up too, read everything I could find about sailing and | | | | wall and head back into the channel clinging to the |
| eventually found myself owner of a twenty-two foot | | | | gunwales for dear life. Life is like that too. I need to plan |
| Catalina. | | | | the right time for a quest. |
| I knew that the wind would try to take along with it | | | | I learned to notice life currents and what direction they |
| everything in its path. Leaves, papers and dandelion | | | | wanted to take me. If I wanted to take a different |
| umbrellas all dutifully floated along on the prevailing | | | | tack, I had to figure out how to do it. I always found |
| wind. | | | | myself steadier for having devised and followed a plan, |
| People strain with all their might to make headway | | | | even though I might need the patience to travel by an |
| against the wind's bluster. At times, birds flap furiously | | | | indirect route. |
| only to hold their position in the airstream. Snow and | | | | Most of all I learned that life is an adventure. |
| rain sometimes travel sideways in the gusts. | | | | Sometimes it might seem safer to just sit at home. |
| Sitting down for my first sailing lesson, I thought sailing | | | | Setting sail for a life voyage might be unpredictable, |
| downwind would involve no effort and sailing upwind | | | | dangerous or uncomfortable. Whatever happens, I |
| would be nearly impossible. Then I learned about the | | | | always finish each journey having learned something |
| keel. Without it, a sailboat would make no headway | | | | important about life and about me. |
| against the wind and the breeze would sweep it along | | | | Life Lab Lessons |
| with everything else in its current. | | | | - Do you tend to choose adventure or safety? |
| Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a keel | | | | - How much risk are you willing to take in life? |
| allows a boat to sail at an angle into the wind although | | | | - What do you learn from doing nothing? |
| not directly into it. Not only that, a sailboat maintains | | | | - Try stretching yourself a little today in a new |
| better stability sailing against the wind than with it. | | | | adventure. |
| So what has my sailing experience taught me about | | | | - When you are finished, see what you have learned. |