Standing in the middle of the river

“If you want to catch fish, you not only have to go where the fish are, but where the fishermen aren’t.” _The fishmen’s creed

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Recently, while walking along the Catawba River with my grandson, Rory, we saw a couple fishermen out in the middle of the river plying their craft.

Of course my grandson was immediately inspired to dip his own toes (and more) into the river. Me, being a “papa” was only to happy to obligate.

But, also being a reasonably responsible papa, I reminded him to be aware of “drop offs” in the river.

And that reminded me of the six-foot man who drowned trying to cross a river which was, on average, only five feet deep. (Rory liked the irony of that little story and it helped him to understand “drop offs”.)

So…

If a six-foot person (or any size person) can drown trying to cross, on average, a five foot deep river should they not attempt to cross the river?

Of course not!

What you do is learn to swim.

The ONE THING for today: Life is full of drop offs. You can’t stayed holed up in your house because of it. You get out there…learning how to handle fears, failures, and frustrations by living, moving, pursuing something worth getting too. And with each effort you become better at it and here’s the good news…there’s no view like the view from the middle of the river!

And there’s one more thing, playing it safe standing on the bank of the river means you never get to go to the other side.

That’s no way to live.