Posts
The setting was anything but hospitable. The lakeshore, which was ordinarily home to miles of beautiful sand and beach, was now the canvas for crashing waves, plenty of rain and fierce 40 to 50 mile per hour winds that had already reduced my cheap plastic rain suit to shreds. It was early October and I was wet and cold, but determined.
I was standing near the edge of the lake trying my hardest to collect water into a five gallon plastic trash bag. By my logic, I could quickly fill the bag and then filter my water from the bag once I was back at the relative shelter and safety of base camp.
Determination can be an interesting monster. On the one hand, shear determination can be enough to give you the strength to overcome great obstacles. On the other hand, determination independent of risk, danger, need or safety can be a formula for disaster. Unfortunately, as I found myself collecting water into a flimsy plastic bag, I came to realize that my determination was an example of the latter.
I had my first brush with the consequences of my misplaced determination when a rogue wave hit me at my knees, drenching my already wet pants and causing me to fall into the freezing water. The second consequence followed shortly thereafter as I grabbed my overfilled plastic bag in anger and began walking back toward camp. I hadn’t made it ten feet when I noticed that the weight of the water in the bag was stretching it near its breaking point.
Not wanting to loose my precious cargo, I quickly placed the bag on the ground. All would have been fine, except that the bag landed on a patch of sharp reeds, which made easy work of slicing several gashes into the soft plastic. I remember watching the water run out of the bag and thinking it looked worse than blood running from a fresh wound. What a foolish mistake I had made!
I was now cold, shivering and exposed to the wind. The diminished dexterity in my hands mixed with the noticeable chunks of snow that were now falling in harmony with the rain let me know that I was in a bad place and yet I remained fixated on the task at hand. The panic of seeing the much needed water oozing out of my bag only fueled my determination to conquer the situation and secure my prize. So, in blind desperation, I pulled out my Sweetwater filter (now MSR) and began to filter on the lakeshore.
They say that challenges and obstacles come in groups of three, I’m not sure why that is, but in nature, it seems to hold true. Those who have spent any time outdoors will agree with this. Even with great planning, it’s as if nature wants to seize the opportunity to remind you that you are a guest in her backyard.
I was too busy and focused…perhaps even blind with indifference, to notice the large wave come crashing onto the beach. To most reading this post, this will seem quite unlikely, that is, a dangerous freezing wave crashing violently onto the lakeshore without being noticed; and, in fact, this same wave probably would have been noticed on a different day at a different time, under different circumstances. That’s the thing about being too focused on a task, you stop noticing the things going on around you. For me, being too focused on filtering water caused me to miss a giant wall of freezing water, but for others, it might be a long business meeting that leads to a missed ball game or dance recital. Either way, the principle is the same, get too focused on the wrong thing and you may miss something of far greater importance.
I was reminded of this concept very quickly as the icy water ran up the lakeshore and engulfed me in a cold tomb, drenching what dry clothes I had left, and leaving me yelling at an indifferent mother nature. Sort of a funny thing to do, yell at nature; as if she cared whether or not I was cold or warm, hungry or full, dead or alive.
So there I was, cold, wet, shivering and making the mile long trek back to camp waterless. The funny part was, I didn’t even need the water. I had a full Nalgene bottle back at camp; but I had made a plan to get water and at the time felt that deviation from that plan would ruin my meticulously planned trip! I had planned on going to get water, but what I ended up with was a long cold night in my sleeping bag and a valuable lesson in the consequences of misplaced determination.
