Point Positive to Focus More on Solutions Not Problems
An important life lesson from whitewater rafting.
My family and I went whitewater rafting for the first time this summer. That’s us in the picture above. We’re going down the Shoshone rapids of the Colorado River just outside Glenwood Springs, CO. My son is the one at the front with a look of pure joy across his face — my daughter is behind him.
We went out on the river with a group of around 12 boats. It’s here I learned a term I’ve continued to use in my personal life. You see, it’s hard for rafting guides to communicate between boats because the water is loud, and when you’re separated, you may not be able to hear each other. One guide may be shouting, “don’t go over there.” While the people in the other boat think, “oh great, he’s telling us to go that way.” In a dangerous situation, this kind of miscommunication spells bad news in all kinds of ways.
However, since you can still see each other, experienced guides know paddlers always point positive. They use their paddles to point to the direction they want or need to go. If you see someone in another boat frantically pointing a paddle in a particular direction, they mean, “go that way NOW.”
A rafter will never use his or her paddle to point in a direction you shouldn’t head. This way…
