We were cruising along the Clearwater River on our way east. We'd soon be crossing the Lolo Pass again, then eventually working our way back across the plains to Newberry, MI, and the annual 'Gig' gig... We'd already missed IZ this year, and I didn't want to risk being exposed as 'anti-social'... well, anymore than had previously been hinted at... Besides, there will be lots of people there that I really like and respect, and it would be good to hang with them for a weekend...
All the way alongside that river that had begun as a small trickle, I kept having a particular recurring thought... just how much that flowing, meandering artery of snow-melt reminded me of life itself... Tranquil and serene at times, tumultuous and turbulent at others, but never standing completely still.
The trick to successfully coping with the sequence of contrasts is to recognize that there is a pattern to it all, a rhythm of sorts, and that both extremes will inevitably come our way... again and again. That no one set of circumstances is permanent, constant or 'normal'. The 'normalcy' lies only in the continual variations!
The key, as much as we are able, is to gain understanding and coping techniques for all situations, to develop a wide array of skill-sets and an adequate intellectual database, and not simply to whine and bellyache about 'unanticipated' unpleasantries... the 'blind bad-luck' that sometimes seems to find us. To not simply react and respond to the jolts in life, but to anticipate many of the things that might otherwise trip us up and to survive with minimum fuss.
In that way we can have a vague idea of what might loom just ahead, with far less precision than we would prefer of course, so that we can in turn plan... and even make contingency plans. That we can prepare ourselves in advance, so that we're caught off guard less, and we're better able to not only survive the next big surprise but to perhaps even flourish through it all.
We can be beguiled and lulled into false expectations by ease and tranquility... and completely let our guard down...
the perfect guy poemWe can also be lured into unnecessary gloom because of occasionally rough waters... and become unnecessarily up-tight much of the time...

DDT