Still Water Runs Deep

Everyone alive must fish, according to Mark Nepo, who wrote The Book of Awakening. But this requires stillness and patience and a willingness to drift.

Teach a man to fish, and he'll learn patience. He'll also soon figure out that a great deal of time will be spent waiting on the fish.

So, he follows the methods of those he views as wiser or more experienced. But his catch will come in it's own good time.

Strength is required to wait quietly and use this time for quiet contemplation. Nepo likened our personal truths to the fish, living deep below the water not wanting to be caught. It's no surprise that the weak grow agitated, and abandon the effort before the fish bite.

To provide nourishment the fisherman must bridge the gap between the elusive fish and the eventual feast.

So he proceeds cautiously, but resolutely, with what he feels will produce the desired results. This situation calls for consistency and patience. And patience is a powerful force.

But, time is an ally with those who posess inner strength - the kind of strength that allows you to be uncompromisingly honest with yourself, while sticking to the path you have charted. Perseverance with a positive attitude, can weaken even the hardest obstacles.

To rush anything, or impatiently force results, stimulates resistance and may cause setbacks.
Like a crash diet, you achieve surfacey changes that may just as quickly be reversed. Steadfast waiting - holding to your integrity - leads to slow but permanent improvements.

The young man brought JB a Father's Day card which read: Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll sit in the boat all day, drinking beer.

The photo is me and Grandaddy Jack (Pop's father) on our way to an ocean fishing trip.