There are days that are easy, when the proverbial wind is at my back. No real effort seems to be needed on my part. The words flow … or the To Do list disappears in almost magical fashion.
And then there are those other kinds of days. You know the kind I’m talking about. It’s all row, row, row my boat … not a single breeze to refresh me. No wind to do the work for me.
And that’s life.
Sometimes it’s wind … and sometimes it’s work.
I can be thankful for the one and I can grumble about the other, but really, shouldn’t I be thankful for both the wind and the work?
Sometimes I remind myself that there will come a time in my life when I will have nothing to do — or at least I will have much less to do. I will wish for the deadlines, the long days of writing, the “how ever am I going to accomplish all of this” pace of life.
Life is a mix of wind and work … being thankful for the time when there is a strong wind in our sails, yes, but also thankful for those days when God gives us strength to pick up the oars and row our boats.
In Your Words: How’s it going for you right now? Is the wind serving, or are you row, row, rowing your boat? What gives you strength to take the oars?
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Comments 10
I really love this quote, it’s a keeper–as are you.
And sometimes we row, row, row your boat and we were closer to shore than we thought and a little puff of wind comes up and blows us there. I had that happen yesterday–so sweet and fun.
Thanks, Beth
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Oh, Dee!
What a wonderful perspective.
Thank you, thank you for this!
🙂
Beth, I think I am doing some rowing right now. Waiting on responses from others, prodding them for responses, so I can press on to meet deadlines. With busyness of home, it’s easy to get that feeling that you just want to break free … but like you, I know one day I’ll be longing for it all … and I so love writing.
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Praying for a refreshing breeze for you, Shelli!
🙂
I had to think about this one for a bit, because I didn’t want to make it personal.
So…consider the training evolution in BUD/S (SEAL basic) called Hell Week. It’s an ordeal – a week of constant movement, cold, discomfort, and harassment (with four hours’ sleep – total) that is designed to find a man’s limits.
You can’t get through it if you take the long view. You have to get through each moment, and then make a conscious choice to get through the next one.
It’s all about choice, and the decision not to fail. SEALs are not supermen; there’s a physical standard that is frankly not hard to achieve (I could do it at 50).
The mental standard is what makes the difference. Some people, maybe most, look for an excuse to quit. Frogmen look for any excuse to succeed, and where none exists, they will make their own.
If you’re ever taken hostage in an ugly land, these are the men who will reach out their strong arms, and carry you home. They will willingly die doing it, because they know that they are not rowing their own boat.
They row for you, when you can’t.
(I used the SEALs as an example because of Hell Week, something I know quite well, but Delta and Marine Force Recon do the same thing, as do some units that live on the spooky side.)
Aaarrgh. Editing.
Last sentence should read “…live on the spooky side.”
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And see … I edited it for you!
🙂
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Love this, Andrew.
The idea that someone will row for you when you can’t.
That is the sweetest moment of life … to realize there are people who will row for you.
Or to have the chance to row for someone else.
Oh my goodness, I love that quote!
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🙂
And I loved your blog post today, Susan! Posted it on my FB page!