There is a quote I read that says, “Smooth seas don’t produce skillful sailors.” The idea that conflict and trials worked out, produce ability, maturity and skill. A skillful sailor is one who has been in and through all kinds of different conditions. Sailing in a harbor on a nice calm day is not the same thing as sailing for months on end, with no land in sight, in good and bad conditions.
Sailing across the ocean requires commitment and resolve to make it to your destination.
A couple of years ago I went to Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan. The water looks like the Caribbean, but instead of being 80 degrees it’s more like 60’s. Off in the distance the water goes from turquoise to dark blue where the water gets deeper. I convinced my brother in law to swim out to the dark blue water with me. I grew up in California and swimming was a normal part of life. We had a pool and would go to the mountains and swim in and across lakes. So, swimming out to the deep blue part of Lake Michigan was a normal idea, however it had been 15 or so years since swimming was a normal part of life.
We got in the water and started working our way out there. I was wearing my water sandals that created a decent amount of drag. As we swam out the bottom of the lake was about 15 to 20 ft beneath us. I began to get tired so I put my sandals which floated under my shirt to give me a little buoyancy. As we got further out to the drop point the water was pretty choppy. There was no point of reference to gauge our distance and it was hard to tell if we were making any progress. It felt like though we were swimming we weren’t moving.
We got out to the darker blue water and turned around. By this time I’m pretty tired, and it’s still hard to tell if we were working against a current or not. The idea of working against a current created urgency to swim hard without taking breaks, because I didn’t want to lose any distance I made.
The interesting thing about being out there on the water with no life jacket was that I was committed. It didn’t matter how tired I was, if I stopped swimming I would find myself underwater. And if I stopped making forward progress I could find myself drifting away with the current. The only option was to just keep swimming, putting one arm in front of the other. When we made it back to shore we said, “Next time we should wear life jackets”.
Being in the water left no alternatives or options but to keep moving towards the goal. On land however there are many opportunities to get distracted, take it easy and even quit. But commitment says – regardless of the cost, length of time or the obstacles faced I’m making it to the end destination. It’s not a matter of, if we will have struggles, it’s holding on to commitment and resolve while working through the struggles.
Smooth seas don’t produce good sailors, but good sailors can sail through any kind of sea.