I have the privilege of living blocks from Lake Michigan. Better yet, from my desk on the fourth floor, I can view a piece of the lake over the roofs and trees. I love being able to see the lake as I work. Every day the lake is different, in fact sometimes it changes from hour to hour. It can be as smooth as glass and the wind picks up making waves that remind me of the ocean.
One windy day I went down to view the lake up close. The waves were big crashing up against the shore and the barrier. As the wind blew against me making me cold, I noticed that out on the water were a group of ducks. Just riding the waves…going up and down…occasionally a big wave would crash over them. They never panicked. They just got very still and quiet and let the waves do their thing. The ducks know that these waves are temporary. That the lake will change. It always changes. They just ride out the rough part.
The next day, the wind is gone and so are the waves. Now the lake is smooth as glass. No remnant of the crashing waves that had been there a mere 12 hours before. This time I noticed that the ducks were busy out there on the water. They were paddling around, diving under the water for food and socializing. They were busy being ducks. They were not fearful that the waves would kick back up. They know the waves will return. Instead of worrying about there return, they just enjoyed the calmness of the lake and go to work.
We have a lot to learn from the ducks. Life is the lake. It is always changing. Some days and periods in our life are smooth as glass. When life gives us quiet and smooth, that is the time to get busy. That is the time to go for that dream, build that career or create that family.
When life gets rough, and the waves come one after another. We tend to fight the waves. We allow our thoughts to trap us thinking that this wave is going to crush us… so we fight the wave. Thinking we can control the waves. But we can’t. Life makes waves and gives us calmness…we can’t control when the waves comes or when we have calmness. We can’t control the waves, but we can control ourselves. We can control our reactions to what life throws our way. When the waves come (and they will) we can fight them and try to stop them exhausting ourselves in the process and getting nowhere… or we can accept them and get very still and ride them out. When we stop trying to control the waves and reserve our energy…then when life gets calm, we are ready and energized to get to work. Like the ducks when life is calm that when we get to work.
Stop fighting the waves. Tomorrow or next year, the waves will be gone, and life will be smooth and calm. When it is you will be ready to forge ahead. Just remember when life is rough…be still, be quiet and ride it out. Life will change. It always does.
Be like a duck
Cullen’s Counseling and Coaching 