Tiny course corrections on the River Raft

Yesterday about 20 people, me included, went rafting down the Payette river.  

That's me in the yellow shirt on the right. 

I'm the one weaging the big hat to keep the sun from burning me. 

I burn easily!

It was so fun! I think this is my fifth time to go rafting.  

The first time was about 30 years ago.  

On that very first trip I was worried about drowning in the rapids.  

But on this trip I wasn't worried at all.  

So I found myself thinking about how different life is today from 200 years ago.  

200 years ago people didn't go down the river to have fun.  

They pushed heavy wooden boats carved out from trees or lashed together with ropes to bring everything they owned with them.  

I'm positive those boats weren't super stable and would sometimes tip over and everything on-board would either fall in or get soaking wet which would increase the difficulty level of piloting the boat.

After pondering this for a few minutes I suddenly realized something about life. 

In life we walk along a path.  We choose that path ourselves.  

The path is not dictated by fate or accident.  

We are where we are because of the things we think about and the stuff we do.  

Granted there are moments when life may seem like an accident.  Accidents happen.  

I'm not referring to getting into a car accident or something like that.  

The path I'm referring to is the one you make choices on everyday.  

Choices like, what time to get up, where to attend church, where to attend school, how hard you will study, will you be diligent in your responsibilities or lax in your service to others?

These choices make a different in the direction of your life.  

The very course you follow along  that life path is determined by those very small choices.  

For example:  If you choose to drink a Dr. Pepper everyday for the rest of your life you could gain enormous weight one small sip at a time.

It is essential for us to make proper choices and keep the course we walk straight and true to our ideals.

As I was sitting in that raft I was amazed at how easily I could change the course of it with just a small stroke with the paddle. 

In all previous rafting trips I've sat in the front left side.  

The person sitting up front can't really control the course of the raft at all.  

All you can do is paddle paddle paddle as hard as you can and hope to stay in the boat

But the person sitting in the back can just dip their paddle into the water and with a tiny twist of the wrist change the entire direction of the boat

Isn't that how life is?  

Just a small choice at just the right moment can change the direction of your life.

What seemed so inconsequential at the time later turns into a big stinkin' deal.

So, there I sat in that back of the boat contemplating my power to change the course even by a tiny degree

As we approached the big rapids I had a choice to make.  

An incorrect Fllick of my wrist this way or that way incorrectly could send us sideways into a big wave

If the boat hits the wave broadside most likely it will capsize and dump everybody and everything into the river.  Not fun!

So, with just a fick of my wrist and push with the paddle I subtely changed the boats direction wave by wave

The boat headed straight into each wave head on!

We climbed up one wave, down another, up again, down and the boat did not capsize at all.  

We took on water, sure! That's natural.  

You're going to take on water and get weighed down once in a while in life.

But if you keep on course, you'll make it through the rapids and be victorious when you come out the end.

Choose your course wisely.  

Stick to the essentials.  

Do not waver in life.

Be true and head straight into your future