I woke up on Father’s Day wavering on whether or not I wanted to take the boat on the water for the first time this year.
We hadn’t been out yet due a variety of reasons including the weather, our schedules, and traffic at the Twin Cities boat launches, but the biggest driver was my apprehension with all that goes into getting the boat up and running and in the water, including my fear that something would go wrong.
I read a chapter in Ryan Holiday’s “Courage Is Calling” that felt like it was written for me that morning - seriously Jason, get over your fear and take action!
I took steps the day and weeks before to prepare the boat including all the safety equipment and charging the battery, so as soon as the kids were up, all four of us could hit the water.
The boat launch was open with plenty of parking spots when we arrived. I moved the boat into position and started the launch process, but the motor would not trim up and down. After troubleshooting I realized that one of the battery cords had fallen down under the boat when I was charging it.
I pulled the boat into a parking spot and was able to retrieve the cord and reattach it. The motor trimmed up and down and we were ready to try again.
I launched the boat and Heather and the kids held the it in place while I parked the trailer. I jumped on and hit the igntion. Unfortunately the boat wouldn’t start. We tried a few more times and another boater offered to jump the boat. When that didn’t work, we decided to give up for the day and buy a new battery.
After buying the battery and new charger I realized that one more connection had fallen down below the boat which was likely the issue the whole time.
Do I feel pretty stupid for the comedy of errors? A little bit, but then I thought about the message I was sending to our kids. Get upset about my mistakes and fly off the handle? Avoid boating all together because I’m not cut out for it?
At some point I was a novice at all the skills I can now accomplish with ease. How did I learn? A combination of practice and repetition as well as significant emotional events, likely tied to mistakes I made while learning.
Will I ever let the battery cables drop through the floor of my pontoon and fail to be attached when I hookup the battery. No way!
Will I make mistakes in the future? Of course, although I am building competence and confidence each time I take out the boat to enjoy a day on the water with my family. Better to learn now while we have the potential for years of enjoyment with our kids!
In addition, I am hopeful that our kids saw that while I was frustrated that our plan didn’t turn out that I showed them an example of how to respond to mistakes - learning!
Learn In The Flow Of Life
Jason
PS: This is what Meta AI predicted I will look like when I’m retired 😉!
コメント