Everyday Life is Just the Same

Catchy title I know? (Best I could think of... hehe). It's true though!

One of my many hobbies and interests is fly fishing. My in-laws bought me a fly fishing kit 6-7 years ago now I believe and I got into it a few times that first season. From there, practice was sparse. Not for lack of interest mind you, but lack of just doing it for some reason.

This season was different as last year a friend of ours gave me hundreds of dollars worth of fly tying stuff, fly fishing gear etc... I was pretty excited. This year, I was bound and determined to do more fly fishing and fly tying (as it takes practice and time to learn). Both activities are very relaxing and a wonderful way to unwind.

Along with each of them comes reminders/life lessons we can carry with us each day. It made me think to myself the other day, as I'm waist deep in water in the creek close by and performing not my best cast of the afternoon;

"There's so much to this that relates to our everyday life. But in order to realize it and get the 'ah-ha' moments, you have to DO IT".

Here's a few that came to mind...

Some days are smooth - Some days are not

In both fly tying and fly fishing, you have good days and bad days. Especially as you learn. Some days you can tie some decent flies; they look good, you're very satisfied with your work, and the process just flows. Other days you can barely get the first wraps of string onto your hook, let alone the hackle and other materials!

Likewise, some days in fly fishing your casts just flow; beautiful casting patterns that work out so smoothly and accurately. Other days your casts feel clunky and your distance / accuracy is off, and you wonder if you maybe dreamed the last outing.

Everyday life is just the same; Some days are good. Some days are bad. That's life. That's ok.

The only way to improve at something is to practice

We live in a world where everyone wants to be an "expert" or achieve a particular goal, but most don't want to put in the work to get there. What I love about fly tying and fly fishing hobbies is that there is SO MUCH you can learn. All of which takes practice. Granted casting a regular fishing pole can take some practice, but it tends to come rather quickly compared to fly fishing.

Everyday life is just the same; Whatever we want to achieve or change, practice is the only way to get there.

Here is my very first attempt at tying a fly (ignore the colours as I wasn't worried about the look of the fly, but more than technique of making one)

As I studied and practiced more, they progressively continue to improve...

Practice is the only way to go. :)

Focusing on the basics and doing them really well, always increases success

Like everthing in life, the foundational elements, the basics are what promote the most success. In fly tying and fly fishing, sticking to learning the basics and doing them really well generates success and more fun most days. With fly tying, I love referring to a book I have called "Simple Fly Tying" where each "fly recipe" has 2-3 materials to tie a very cool and effective fly.

In fly fishing, focusing on the basic casts and aspects of presenting your fly to those fish will always bring the most success. You don't need to be fancy. Ultimately, you just want to catch fish right?

Everyday life is just the same; Anything we do is always best served by doing the basics really really well and doing them consistently. We don't need to go beyond that.

I love how much the ACT OF DOING can give us, if we just take action. Rather than talking about doing something or making change, we go with it and we DO IT. We can learn so much about ourselves and everyday life, simply by DOING (and having fun too!)