My son is in a sailing program and is becoming quite good. After a solid year of sailing 2-3 days/week, he’s developed the knowledge, strength, and competence to really be a leader in the program. Apparently, there are a lot of new sailors on the sailing team which he finds both amusing and annoying.
“I want to go fast. I want to be great. Why do I have to be paired with these noobs?” he complained when I picked him up after Friday’s practice. “It’s weird for me to be the skipper, having to tell older kids how to do things. It’s exhausting to have to be the leader all the time!”
I reminded him that only a year ago he was the “noob” and that perhaps he might exercise a little patience, understanding, and empathy.
Only a year ago.
That’s the thing that we don’t remember—how far we can go in such a short amount of time when we truly commit ourselves to something.
When something is new or unfamiliar, it can be uncomfortable, even frightening, to put ourselves out there. But if we stay with it and keep doing it, those feelings pass. They’re replaced by feelings of accomplishment and confidence.
So be the noob! Or as Eleanor Roosevelt said much more eloquently, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Imagine what would be possible if you were to hoist the anchor of your fears and allow your dreams to set sail. Where might you be this time next year?
©OnStage Leadership
I love that you invited your son to practice patience, understanding and empathy. This is a good reminder for me today with my greeting card launch.
As a mindfulness and meditation facilitator, I use the word anchor often, as in the anchor of our awareness. Fear’s BFF is certainty and it’s always seeking to drop anchor on some semblence of certainty even when that certainty is a shitty destination.
Good reminder to hoist the anchor and actually be okay with being unanchored instead of a shitty destination.