"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." ~English Proverb

At this point in the semester, you may be dealing with "Three Projects Due in One Week Virus," "Sleep is for the Weak Plague," or "Fail-phobia."  Expectations are rising, energy levels are falling, and you feel like you're being tossed around as if Penn State Football scored their 31st point and a sea of arms is throwing you up in the air (except, there's no cheering, smiles, or excitement--only a slight sense of queasiness).

This theoretical rough sea, according to an English Proverb, is good for you.  That is often difficult to believe.

Sometimes, when stress overcomes us or threatens to make us weak, we feel that we should just give up.  We may think that to push through a rough time and keep enduring whatever it is that is causing the storm in our lives is pointless and will only cause more turmoil.

However, when our ship starts to rock on rough seas, we must adjust our sails and keep going because that is the only way to escape the storm.  We need to keep looking forward and know that these hard times are just one patch of rough seas in our lives that are ultimately making us more skillful sailors.  Dealing with rough seas makes us well-practiced life experts (that is why calling your grandparents or speaking to wise people every once in a while is helpful--they are well-versed in the troubles you are experiencing and know the best ways to overcome them).

Courtesy of Patrick McDonald

The world today is a frightening
place.  With so much unrest and violence in the most ordinary, unsuspecting places, it is difficult to disregard the turmoil going on in society and live without fear.  But, sailors cannot go into a storm worrying about every possible terrible outcome.  They must put aside their fear and execute the task at hand by navigating through the rough waters.  The circumstances of society today include a great deal of violence, selfishness, and lack of regard for the value of human life.  Unless we are consciously working to enact change, the only thing we can do is to fight negative forces head-on and stand our ground by keeping our personal values close to us.

Imagine what we could accomplish if everyone were able to live without fear in every aspect of our lives.  Without any anxiety or worry about possible impending negative events (no matter how small), we could be able to fully concentrate on all the things that are important to us and lead the most meaningful, impactful lives possible.  We are all capable of this, but oftentimes, worry, anxiety, and the negative circumstances of life hold us back from unleashing our full potential.

Life can certainly be rough.  But without the bumps and waves that accompany each day, we would never learn anything and would never become skilled life captains.  My favorite coach always used to say, "Make a mistake once and it becomes a lesson.  Make a mistake twice and it becomes a choice."  As long as we do not allow our mistakes to become choices, we will be able to continue through whatever life hands to us and come out stronger, becoming truly skillful sailors.