Early on in yacht racing we learn a few safety fundamentals. One is that a boat only finds its stability through motion. We find it by “making way”, making sure water is flowing over our fins. It’s much like riding a bicycle or spinning a top where if you stop you tip, in a yacht if you lose your momentum, you lose your ability to steer. Even if you find yourself knocked off course or pointing in a direction that you didn’t plan, you have to keep making way to keep the rudder alive.
The Physics of the Crisis
Sometimes life’s timing isn’t in our control, but even then you have to keep steerageway. You have to keep water flowing over the foils to be able to safely steer. It is part of the process towards success. When you trust the physics, when you trust the process, you aren’t just drifting. You are maintaining the momentum that allows you to eventually find the right line. Every slow tack, every violent gybe, it is all part of the flow that keeps you steerable and keeps you stable.
That consistent steadiness at the wheel keeps you oriented, even when others don’t understand what you might be going through. That consistency is what we get at hope 4 life. It might be a gentle tack one week, and it might be a more significant gybe the next. But one thing is certain, and that is we keep moving. Maybe not always forward, because sometimes the headwind and the current pushes us backwards, sometimes we intentionally give way to find better air or better current, sometimes in this dance two steps forward includes once step back.
And that’s okay. The important thing is, we keep showing up.
Mostly though, through this journey, you’ll figure out this isn’t a solo sport. Life is a shared journey. With the friendships and coaching we continue to develop, even when we’ve “taken the ground” on that disastrous sandbar, another person in our life is there to right us — or at least stop us from sinking. And sometimes, that’s exactly what survival feels like.
Keeping Your Rudder Alive
Each day you can look back at the wake you left behind, that zig-zag path with lulls and rescues from the sandbar stoppages, and can accept it as part of your wonderful journey called life. In all the storms that battered you, and in all the touring with sunsets and dolphins, you stayed upright. It might have felt like a capsized sinking ship you lived through, but it wasn’t. You are here. Today. A brand new day.
Keep your way. Trust the momentum. Trust the physics. Trust the journey. And keep showing up. You are worth it. I’m glad you are here. I’m glad I’m here.
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