Water under the bridge

Water plays a huge role in my life.

Actually water plays a huge role in anyone’s life. Life as we know it would not even exist if it were not for water and some of its rather unique properties. Few truly understand how unusual ice is. And how important that uniqueness is for life. Sadly I am not the one to explain this. I “understand” the concept, but don’t have the necessary “knowledge” to relay it to others.

But I digress.

Many of the most significant lesson of life I learned were related to water. I was a fish when I was a kid, swimming as often as I could. In the summer my mother was hard pressed to get me out of our condo’s pool. My first (and ironically last as of this moment) “real” job was as a lifeguard.

As I mentioned in Whitewater, I first truly began grasping the concepts of Tao with whitewater canoeing. I have as much passion for sailing as I do for whitewater canoeing. Sailing to me is the essence of pushing limits yet living within them. It is a combining of the disciplined and the adventurous spirit. With sailing one learns how to respect the world and yet still benefit from what it has to offer. While whitewater canoeing represents fully living in the moment, sailing represents expanding those moments into the future. Whitewater canoeing is embracing now. Sailing is following now into the future.

Why am I rambling on about this? Partly because of my brief sailing adventure yesterday. And partly because my daily random post search brought me to something I once wrote on my views about Destiny.

I often describe my view of how my life has manifested as similar to the way water flows in a river. I follow the path allowed me, yet not without causing change to the path. Most of the time the change is minimal, and it will take much more water to change the path significantly. But every once in a while the change is drastic and significant. But even more than that general go with the flow mentality, sometimes a space is found that is empty. Like an opening to an underground cavern is suddenly found. The water flows into that cavern, filling its emptiness, and possibly changing the very nature of the cavern.

This is the essence of my life purpose in my eyes. I am flowing water that sometimes fills the empty caverns. Possibly changing them.  For better or for worse is often beyond my awareness. But it is who I am.

Ironically, this is not at all the post I sat down to write today. I was going to comment on how too much introspection can often make us miss life speeding by us. Said thought prompted by a picture I took yesterday.

But the flow of my water self took me in another direction entirely. I have to look for the lesson in my own words today.

Thank you water.