SAILING LESSONS
2 IDEAS FROM ME
Sailing is a helpful metaphor navigate life’s river of yang-yin and go where, when, and how you want to go regardless of which way the winds are blowing.
“In Irons” or “Into the Wind” is the “No Go Zone.” Going directly against the wind is futile and ineffective. However, it is possible to go into the wind by alternating in the direction of 45 degrees. You can reach any other point in the ocean outside the “No Go Zone” by synching your sails with the wind flow. This is actually a simplified representation of reality. For example, if you’re sailing in the Pacific Northwest Salish Sea, British Columbia or Alaska Inside Passage, you also need to adjust your sail plan for weather, sea conditions, visibility, tides, and currents through narrow passes between islands.
I find the following SAIL acronym useful to sync with life’s river of yang and yin regardless of the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual adventure. Life adversity shows up as changing winds.
Sail Plan – Develop a sail plan for routine and non-routine experiences. Prepare by using best-known methods for likely scenarios. Include the Mountaineer’s Ten Essentials to cover worst-case scenarios if your adventure includes nature. For example, a first aid kit is one of the Ten Essentials. Recognize that you live in a complex world with thousands of variables outside your control. You don’t control the wind, weather, or anyone else. However, you can manage your skills, equipment, sail plan, and how you communicate. You will continually be frustrated by reality if you expect fair winds and calm seas. Practice realistic optimism when developing your sail plan.
Adjust – Adjust your sail plan to sync with the changes in wind direction relative to where you want to go. Recognize that your experience will likely differ from what you imagined when you developed your sail plan. Expect winds to be more favorable and less favorable than your Sail Plan. The more complex your sail plan, the more likely you will experience unexpected unfavorable winds and weather. Be flexible and adjust as required.
Innovate – Embrace unexpected challenges as opportunities to innovate and creatively solve problems. Calm seas don’t make good sailors.
Learn – Learn from your victories and failures and apply them to similar situations in the future. Be grateful for the learning and growth opportunity.
2 QUOTES FROM SAGES
“Yin and yang, male and female, strong and weak, rigid, and tender, heaven and earth, light and darkness, thunder, and lightning, cold and warmth, good and evil… the interplay of opposite principles constitutes the universe.” – Confucius
“How I spend my time is my right, but in the end, it still affects those I don’t leave time for. There’s a yin and yang in life. But people seriously don’t realize it until it’s too late.” – Rachel Van Dyken
1 QUESTION FOR YOU TO EXPLORE
What are the benefits of cultivating a SAIL equivalent strategy to navigate life’s river of yang-yin?
Namaste,
Duane Nelson
