Advanced Fly Fishing Techniques for Living Life

I guess I might know a few advanced techniques for catching trout with a fly. But when it comes to living life at an advanced level, I struggle. I often have to go back to the basics and ask myself why I am here.  Why am I on the river? What is my goal and purpose?  Of course we all want to catch fish. That is a given. But I often miss the real reason.

I learn from my "beginner" clients. Most often they too want to catch fish but somehow for them,  they seem more mature than I,  and are content to just be on the river. I almost counter them, "Oh no, you can't just be happy being here,  you have to catch fish." As I said, I am not very advanced. My clients often are more advanced than I. I am just a beginner.

It is ironic that often when I leave my clients alone, that is when they will catch a fish. Yesterday I was guiding a wonderful couple. Mark had caught 7 fish but Diane had not put a fish in the net yet. I went to get some thing from my truck, and of course I look back and Diane is fighting a fish, and Mark nets the fish for her. Great guiding on my part hey??? !!!

Or last week there was Kat, Joleen and Matt. Joleen hooked five fish in the first 15 minutes and I was no where near her. Kat hooked several. Matt lost a few. We netted fish and lost fish. Everyone caught fish, but I am not sure how much the hooking really mattered. Nor am I sure how much I was needed!!! Sometimes I feel I am more just "in the way" of something greater that is trying to happen.  

I don't know. I guess we can all try too hard  sometimes and miss the point. We can miss the greater lesson in life, why we are here,  and even the opportunity to net the fish.

I remain ignorant. I offer no advice. I am still a beginner. 

Deckers: Sometimes Someone Catches so Many Fish it is not Proper to Talk About It.

Big Fish-Small Pond

The saying "A big fish in a small pond" means  that I might think I am a big deal out in the world but my influence is actually quite small.  In other words, in spite of what I might think about myself, the reality is that I may only impact the small fish in my own small pond.   

I think deep down most of us want to feel that we are important to people,  or at least a certain group of people. We want to know we matter.  We want to know we are relevant. It is quite painful to admit that perhaps we only matter to a few loved ones, if even that.

The culture does not help. It is tough to be as popular as the culture demands. We constantly see people in the spot light and often not for honorable reasons. Or, some so called "stars" are just good at promoting themselves and elevating themselves to stardom.

Charles Bukowski in his poem titled, "The Secret" says that "nobody has the strange and hidden power, nobody is exceptional or wonderful or magic, they only seem to be."  He goes on to imply that it is all a show and an illusion.

Perhaps I am uncomfortable that I have not rocked my world. I often feel irrelevant and that I have not even rocked the small world  

of my small pond.

Only once in a while, a big fish enters the small world of my life, and provides a special kind of solitary solace.