Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Grit your teeth...and pull.

So here you are. Blithely heading down the road of your life and/or your career. One day, you stop and look around. The road doesn't look like it used to. You suddenly realize: you are on the wrong road. Actually actively heading towards a place that you don't want to go. The obvious solution is; Stop. Turn around. Find a new road.

The truth is that it isn't usually that simple. There are forces that conspire to keep us moving down the same, wrong, road. Expectations. Experiences. Mortgages. Fear of a different road. Not even know where the other road is.

Then, once you identify the road that you want to be on, it does not necessary get easier - in fact sometimes it is a lot tougher. Several years ago, I did a 4-day solo canoe trip down the headwaters of the Mississippi. I had good maps and a good plan. The problem arose because the REAL river, doesn't look like the maps. The map shows a nice, clear blue line. The reality of the situation was much, much different. The "river" spreads out into a marsh that is about a mile wide - it was like that for about 2 of the 4 days. So, the routine was that I would paddle my way into an large open pool. Then paddle VERY slowly around the edge of the pool looking for a trickle of current - the direction that I needed to move in. Once I determined the direction that I needed to go, the real work began. Back up, paddle like hell toward the ripple and "ground" the canoe between two floating masses of grass. Then walk to the front of the canoe, grab onto the swamp grass...and pull. Walk back to the middle of the canoe, and pull. Walk to the back of the canoe, and pull. Walk back to the front of the canoe, and pull. You get the idea. Typically I would have to do that for about 45 minutes to an hour, before hitting a section of open river for 15 or 20 minutes - then it would start all over.

The direction was not the tough part. The direction was the easy part. Getting from where I was to where I wanted to be was tough. It would have been much easier to find a nice open pool and paddle around in circles. No blisters. No splinters. No razor grass cuts on my hands. And, most importantly...no progress. Too often we paddle around in circles, because it is easier than real forward motion.

Real forward motion take work. It takes gritting your teeth, and pulling.

Right now, I am working on my direction. I'm a little nervous, because I know I'm not on the right road, and I know then when I find the road - the real work will start. Part of why I'm here is because this will help give me the insights to figure out what to do - and then the strength to actually do it.

Good luck on your rivers.

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