Fishing, Shooting, and Life

We went on a fishing trip yesterday. I say “fishing” because there was not a lot of catching on this trip due to the weather and a lot of wind. So, it also gave me a chance to think about how frustrating it was.

On the first two wades, I didn’t even get a bump from a fish, much less a good strike.

It would have been easy to just get back in the boat and sit and watch the wind blow but that would have meant that I gave up. That is something I’ve never done over the years.

It would have been easy to tell Gil long ago when I was the only woman at deer camp that I would not come back. When we began shooting sporting clays, there were only five women in the whole country shooting. The men would wonder why women wanted to do this so-called “man’s sport.” I could have given it up, even though I loved doing all of these things.

So, I began reflecting on how I stayed with the things that I love to do. And fishing is one of those things. I stayed in the water and kept throwing that rod.

I knew that I knew how to fish. It has taken me almost six years to get this all kind of figured out. But I had a good teacher and he told me as in anything you must persevere through those tough times.

So I stayed and threw that rod and reel until I caught a few fish. But it had been a long day so by then we were all tired. We went home happy with what we had caught.

I think we have always told you to stick with it during the rough times and you will get through it. And there is something wonderful that will happen in the future.

There is no magic pill to make you a better fisherperson or shooter. It is a process and sometimes not a fun one. But if you look at it as “there is something good getting ready to happen” instead of sinking into a fog, something great will happen.

So, what did I learn?

That in shooting or fishing you must persevere through the process and not think about the outcome. Everything is about process-oriented thinking. The outcome will happen and there is little you can do about that.

In this shooting game, there are so many other factors involved. It may be someone else’s day to shine. It’s not that you haven’t prepared to win; it just isn’t your day.

But there are many other days to come and something good is going to happen if your thinking is in the right place.

On the last wade of this fishing day, we all caught fish and went home with a few just enough to have for dinner. It was a good time.

I just keep learning to persevere through the tough times, ‘cause there is something good coming…like fresh fish for dinner!