Sailing

2018 - Present

The big green sail tumbling down as my body leaned back and I heard somebody shouting “pull the jib sail”. I saw two frightened faces looking at me as I clumsily groped for it. But obviously, it was too late! My head felt dizzy and I couldn’t control my body. Leaning more backward, I completely fell into the world of seaweed and other smelly creatures. The seaweeds winded around my outstretched fingers, just like millions of snakes wiggling with their slippery body. I could smell the weird odour of the lake, which was full of fishes and dead fishes. Suddenly, with the floating of the lifejacket, I paddled my feet backward and felt my fingers touching something solid. It was the sailboat! I pushed myself up to the seat and heard the other two guys cheering for me.

After this horrifying experience of trying sailing and getting capsized, I thought about giving up. It was probably not the right sport for me for I really did not like the thalassophobia feeling. However, nudged by my friends, I ended up deciding at least I would finish this term as my co-curriculum activity. Besides, I am not the kind of person allowing myself to easily give up on something just because of difficulties. I took extra hours practicing with my experienced friends as well as watching YouTube videos of wind directions and points of sail. Of course, we still got keeled over from time to time, but we were less fearful and couldn’t help laughing in shaking voices because of the icy water. Courage and confidence seemed not enough, we all had to participate and practice as a team. Sailing through fine days and rainy days, we also learned to tactfully deal with the fickle wind and weather. Only a small mistake would throw me and my friends on the same boat into the chilly water, so I learned to be calmer in crisis and more determined in making decisions. Unexpected changes and new challenges kept coming up, what we could do is to face up to it, take action, make compromises if needed, and most important of all, trust each other. We were invincible sailing together.

Recollecting on the numerous ups and downs, I suddenly realize that life is just like a little boat, and we have to sail with the winds. Winds can impede us from moving forward, but also can propel us to our destination as well. Having no obstacles in life is like sailing in the sea with no wave and no wind. It might seem great. But the truth is, without the wind and wave which seems potentially put us in danger, but can actually propel us toward our destination. Whether it is adversity or opportunity lies in that from which perspective we look at it and how we react.