No matter how calm and beautiful Mother Nature can be, we all need to remember that her power is greater than ours.
Waypoints: Reality Check
Learning to fish and live life
by Geremy Olson
WayPoint: Fair is a concept created by humans that nature does not recognize.
You don’t have to go very long in life to hear these iconic words, “that’s not fair”. I am sure there is a 100 percent participation rate on parents replying with “life’s not fair.” I’m not a big fan of absolute statements, however I struggle with finding any part of life that I don’t hear the fairness argument play out in some form or another.
One of the places I get an opportunity to witness the fairness dilemma play out is when we take families fishing for the first time. One dad told his kids as we took off, “Ok we’re going to keep this fair and everyone is going to catch ten fish each.” I didn’t mean to but I laughed out loud. I was only in high school at the time and tact wasn’t quite in my wheel house yet. As the dad was confused; he asked what was so funny, I replied “nature doesn’t work that way”.
I knew this first hand by spending time in a boat fishing with my dad. Some would say he was unlucky while others would say he was cursed. Either way, he was incapable of catching a fish. On one trip out, four people in the boat caught limits of fish and my dad got skunked. That’s right no fish, same tackle and boat.
This dad was still confused, I explained to the group of new anglers that fish don’t understand the concept of fair. Fish bite as a reaction to what’s in front of them or to fill their bellies. Both reasons are done out of instinct and there is no consideration for what the angler thinks is fair. At the end of the day, what we catch has a little to do with the skill of the angler, a little to do with luck and a lot to do with the reaction of the fish based on all of the natural conditions present that day.
Understating the realities of nature leads to safety and better outcomes.
When we’re in the outdoors we need to take a good look at how far fairness has permeated our thought process. All these years after I spent the day on the water with the family, I too often hear people talk about outdoor tragedies with “it’s just not fair…they had so much going for
Understating the realities of nature leads to safety and better outcomes.
them…they were so young…they had a family”. The harsh reality is nature doesn’t care. The fact is nature is incapable of understanding our concept of fairness. Regardless of what we think or feel, nature will do its thing.
Not until we understand that nature isn’t fair, can we start to understand that we need to spend time studying nature to know when we can stretch ourselves outdoors and when we need to get out of her way. As parents, it’s our responsibility to teach our kids this lesson. Any innocent, simple mistake in the outdoors can lead to death. If you take the time to think it over, this is also true in everyday life. My Incident Commander Rick for wildfire says it best, “Mother Nature bats last.”
Remove fairness from the thought process and it provides each of us with the ability to make decisions more objectively.
“I deserve to get one more fish” changes to, “time to get off the water before the lightning comes”.
“I paid for this guide trip,“ changes to, “Yes, I agree it’s too windy to be on the water today”
As you learn getting away from fairness will keep you safer in the outdoors and help make better decisions, you will learn something else. I remember as a kid getting extremely frustrated at the river watching everyone else catching fish, while I cast my arms off to no avail. As I grew up, I learned all the skills and knowledge I didn’t know and needed to learn. Through that process I learned it isn’t about me. When we remove fairness, we remove selfishness and replace it with selflessness. This paradigm shift helps build relationships and leads to contentment regardless of the situations we encounter.
Over the years with my kids, I’ve seen the benefits of leaving fairness out and instead intentionally teaching contentment in it’s place. Doing this teaches them objective decision making; a better understanding of the power of nature and that it’s ok to put others first.
(Geremy Olson grew up in the outdoors. After being burned as a volunteer firefighter, he had to figure out how to teach outdoor skills to his children from a wheelchair while learning to walk. Today he is an inspirational speaker, Fellowship of Christian Athletes North Dakota Coordinator, ND AIM Tournament Director, Outdoorsman, Producer, Wildfire Consultant & Public Speaker (GOspeaks.live) He is also the proud father of the owners of Missouri Secrets Tackle.)
