Boating Is Much More Than Just The Boat!

Okay, everyone knows that the groundhog saw his shadow and declared that we will have six more weeks of winter. (And I was concerned that it was going to be a month and a half!) All of the weather that we have going on around the country proves that winter is entrenched for a while.
But, remember that the sun has been hanging around each day a little longer and soon old sol will stay longer each day enough to melt the snow and warm us up enough so we can go forth and wake up our boats.
Our boats have been dosing gently in their cradles waiting patiently for our attention. We have been dreaming about trips, day sailing and just hanging out on our boat. We look forward to spending time with the boating family that we have during the season. We even look forward to working on our boats (I call it boat therapy) to get them all ready to go and make that initial splash into the waters of Lake Michigan.
I discovered, recently, that I really only have two seasons. Sailing season and dreaming of sailing season. I don’t know where all of you are with this thought, but I do know if you own a boat, you are connected to something larger than an inanimate thing that floats on the water.
Having a boat in your life is being in a relationship that includes all of the joys and frustrations, the range of emotions that are part and parcel of any good partnership. She will frustrate you, she will tease you, she will love you. She will take you through all kinds of weather and deliver you safely home. She will bring you closer to yourself and be there to share all this with your friends and family.
There are some people who say “The two best days in a boater’s life is the day he buys his boat and the day he sells his boat.” These people are not true boaters. They are the people who own things and dispose of things and get new things without a thought of the nature of things. We are blessed to be able to have boats in our lives.
Anything that is able to enhance our life is a good thing. Some people don’t care for boats, those people are probably not interested in our yacht club and would not be reading this anyway. But there are many who have many things in their lives that bring joy and are enhanced by the nature of those things in their lives.
These people are the ones who understand that there is more to life than just things. They understand that the things are in their lives to help bring joy by the relationship to these things and the people around them. Whatever we do to bring joy into our lives is good. Not just “having a fun time” but a joy that enhances our lives. Are we better by the activities that we do? Do we derive enjoyment from these activities?
To enjoy means to be in a state of joy with this thing or activity. Joy is fuller and deeper than just “having fun.” We can have fun with the enjoyment and be better for it. For me sailing is bringing joy. I enjoy everything about my boat, even the frustration is part of the package.
We can have fun doing many things and that can be good too. But to do things that bring true enjoyment, that is true joy and that makes it better for ourselves and the world around us. The more joy we can bring into the world whether it be boating or some other activity, we are able to make the world a better place, and that is good!
When you wake up each day think about how you can bring joy into your life and in doing that you will help bring joy into the world!
Peace, Love and Coconuts!
Rev. Don
s/v Margaret Elizabeth

NOTE: This is an article that I posted to our yacht club newsletter. I thought it had value to share here on WA. The last line about bringing joy into your life each day is the most important. As we go through our day we need to be mindful of bring joy into our lives and those around us. We can do this only when we live our passion. When we bring our passion to our work with WA only good can come of it.

Be mindful of how you can bring joy into your efforts with WA and notice the changes that take place.

Wake up and bring on the JOY!