Finding your way..

To say the last year or so has been a trying one is a certain understatement. My personal life has undergone a total makeover and the realization of whats important in life has finally taken center stage. I can look back on the trials in my life and feel sorry for me or move on and be a better me than I was before, I choose the latter.

And so it goes in my "fishing life" as well, I can always look at a day spent on the water and consider only those days that I have caught more than my share of fish as a successful trip or I can look back at the days God has given me on the water too reflect and find myself regardless of the number of fish that were brought to hand and consider that a stellar day! Again I choose the latter..

My everyday life is not always in my control, nor is it for any of us, but it makes me question is this why we fish? I can choose the what, the where and the how when I'm on the water. I can choose how long ill fish and  what ill be using on that day.. But now the biggest question is,what do we choose to take from this day?

On a recent trip with a friend and first time fly fisher,(yeah my recruitment rate is on the rise!..lol) I found myself not caring how many fish we landed. I laughed and enjoyed every moment of that day and considered it a very successful trip.We landed a few fish and lost a lot more, but it was the sun and the water and the laughter that we find only when we learn to let go of the "Catch" and engulf ourselves in the experience instead.

A beautiful Spring Brown..

My life trials certainly are not over and I'm very sure that Ill slip from this clarity again and fall backwards into the abyss of the "Catch", but just like in life, I'm taking it one day at a time and trying to make the best of even the worst situations. Life isn't always fair but its always a learning experience. And so we move on and look for those moments that lift us up....Thank God mine are on the stream...

<((><
Jeff