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ZERO TOLERANCE TO NEGATIVE THINKING |
MAKING BAD THINGS INTO BETTER THINGS WHILE SAILING ON
THE OCEAN OF YOUR DREAMS
When we started sailing around
the world, we had no experience in offshore sailing or heavy
weather. By the time we had sailed half way across the Pacific,
we still had never sailed in conditions that were exceptionally
arduous or challenging. We were unproven and the behavior of
our yacht in adverse conditions was unknown.
When we left Bora Bora in
French Polynesia, we sailed five hundred miles to an atoll in
the Cook Islands called Suvarov. This atoll is unique because
only one family lives on it. The approach to Suvarov is
hazardous; if you miss the entrance to the atoll, you hit the
reef and wreck your yacht.
As you approach Suvarov, you
can’t see the actual reef. You only see a wrecked vessel
rusting away on top of the reef warning you of its presence.
Inside this atoll, there are hundreds of large coral formations
called coral heads that dot the lagoon and lie just below the
water’s surface.
Suvarov has been compared to a
Venus Fly Trap. The lagoon looks inviting, but it’s extremely
hazardous in unsettled weather. Once inside the lagoon, you
pick a spot to anchor among the coral heads. If your anchor
holds, and the wind doesn’t shift, there’s no problem. If your
anchor drags, or if the wind changes direction, your yacht may
hit a coral head. In the daytime, you can see the coral heads,
and a wind shift isn’t a problem. At night, there’s no way to
tell the location of the coral, and if your anchor drags, you
may hit the reef and lose your boat.
The weather was unsettled as we
approached Suvarov. We knew conditions in the lagoon would be
marginal because the winds were blowing at about twenty five
knots. Nevertheless, we decided to enter the lagoon in order to
rendezvous with cruising friends anchored there.
We found the pass through the
reef and carefully sailed among the coral heads inside the
lagoon until we arrived at Anchorage Island. Once inside it
became clear that conditions were marginal.
We put down a big anchor and
hoped for the best. Fortunately, our anchor held through the
night. By the next morning, conditions had deteriorated
further, and we decided we should exit the atoll before things
became totally unmanageable. Many boats have been lost on
Suvarov, and we didn’t want to become another statistic.
The bad news was that
conditions outside the atoll were also rough. We got underway
in the morning when the light was good enough to be able to pick
our way through the coral heads. As we headed out, we passed a
large commercial fishing trawler coming in for shelter.
Conditions were rough, and they decided to come in for a rest.
Later we heard the trawler dragged their anchor and hit a
cruising yacht anchored inside the atoll.
We cleared the reef and turned
west for a five hundred mile sail to Samoa. The winds were
gusting thirty five to forty five knots. We decided this
was our opportunity to learn how our yacht would behave in
marginal sailing conditions. We ran before large seas for
three days under modest amounts of sail, and let the autopilot
do all the steering. Although it was a rough ride, the
yacht handled the high winds and seas without a problem.
We came
through this experience with more confidence in ourselves and in
our yacht. Our experience in the lagoon at Suvarov could have
turned into a disaster. The sail from Suvarov to Samoa could
have been a three day nightmare. Both of these experiences
could be classified as potentially bad ones. Nevertheless, we
learned from them and turned them to our advantage. We made
them into something better.
MAKING BAD INTO BETTER A NEW WAY
OF LIFE
Making bad things into better
things isn’t a fantasy or a fairy tale. You will have many
opportunities to take something bad and make it into something
better. Whenever you can’t get what you want, you have a
choice. You can accept the bad experience and learn to live
with it, or you can make it into something better.
When things don’t work out as
planned, don’t surrender or assume all is lost. The bad things
of life can be converted into better things if you are willing
to do whatever it takes to make it happen.
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BETTER AND BETTER
Every once in a while you'll hear me exclaim, "This is as good
as it gets." The problem with this statement is that it's
wrong.
You will never reach a place in your life where it's impossible
for things to improve.
No matter how bad your life is, it can still get better.
No matter how good your life is, it can still improve.
The father down you are, the more room you have for
improvement. If you are depressed, lonely, and destitute,
that's good, because you have lots of room for improvement.
If you are happy, if you have dozens of friends, and if you have
plenty of money, that's also good, because things can still get
better.
No matter who you are, where you live, or what you have done in
the past, there is no limit to how good your life can become.
Excerpt:
ZERO TOLERANCE TO NEGATIVE THINKING
David J. Abbott M.D.
THE POSITIVE WEB RING
The Positive Web Ring has eleven positive web
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The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what you put into
your mind, and the Positive Web Ring fills your mind with good things.
Give your mind a push in a positive direction today. Cruise your way
to a positive life. If you really want to be positive, nobody
can stop you.
PositiveWebRing.com
PositiveSelfTalk.com
PositiveThinkingRadio.com
PositiveGraphics.com
PositiveChristianRadio.com
PositiveButterflies.com
MaximumStrength PositiveThinking.com
ZeroToleranceToNegativeThinking.com
TooManyDrummers.com
GodLovesU.com
Maxingout.com
RED SEA CHRONICLES DVD
When Dr. Dave isn't working as a flying doctor for the Indian Health
Service, He is sailing around the world on his sailboat. Find
out what it's like to sail on the ocean of your dreams by watching
Captain Dave's DVD.
Red Sea
Chronicles DVD Previews |
