I used to race sailboats. My favorite race by far is the Oakland -> Catalina Island race, about 640 kilometers. Getting there though, isn't exactly a straight shot, which can add even more distance to your race. At one point, we had sailed out to the shipping lanes 50 miles offshore in hopes of catching some much needed wind.
We were in a contingent of 21 boats and we came in 4th place, just behind "Fuzzy Duck". It took 2 days and 23 hours, about half of that time spent bobbing up and down in the water. It was against the rules to turn on your motor unless you needed to charge batteries for lights and/or navigation equipment. My jobs were helmsman and navigator. To this day, that race in 1988 is one of the high points of my life.
It is fascinating learning how sails work with the wind. The direction of the wind vs. the direction you want to go dictates how to "trim" your sails. The velocity of the wind will tell you how big of a sail to hoist. In foul weather, you sometimes don't need any sails at all, the mast is enough sail as it is, thank you very much!!
Today I was feeling a bit stressed because I felt like I was heading into the wind. I felt like something was pushing me back, and that I should lean forward to counter the push. That's when I visualized what I would need to do if I were to steer a sailboat into the wind. I would need to adjust. I would need to trim the sails and hold on tight.
The analogy of this post? Use your life experiences to get you through the difficult days. They are there inside you, you just need to trust them and let them guide you once in awhile. I'm off to trim my sails.
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