“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.” – Parker Palmer
Looking back at the dock, my fellow staff member had one leg perched atop a backless chair and the other dangling with a ski attached. “Hit it!” he shouted, and like a great acrobat he flew into the air and promptly landed deep in the water, seconds later emerging with a broad, smooth turn to the left of the boat.
Everyone on the shore screamed with joy at this novel waterskiing feat. For my part, I had an ear-to-ear smile and a great sense of accomplishment.
I started snow skiing almost as soon as I could walk. I come from a long lineage of skiers, and it is deep in my DNA. So when I was ten years old and saw the camp director barefoot water ski, I was immediately ready to jump in the water.
As with almost everything, though, you need to walk before you run. So I strapped on two skis, and the first thing I learned was that there was an entirely different center of gravity involved in getting out of the water than in disembarking from a ski lift. That took a while.
When I finally did get out of the water, being on skis felt natural, but water underneath them felt completely different than snow – who knew? Yet in time I got the hang of it, including navigating moguls – I mean, the wake!
The real challenge, however, came when I tried to slalom ski. I had trouble dropping a ski without wiping out, and trying to get up directly on one ski continuously dropped me onto my side. So frustrating…especially as one of my best camp friends was totally mastering slalom skiing.
A few years later, I was hired to work at that camp, and one of my responsibilities was driving the ski boat. In short order, I became not only very proficient at driving the boat, but also at teaching first-time skiers.
Lesson learned: my gift was driving the ski boat and teaching waterskiers, not waterskiing itself. That learning did not happen overnight. I spent far too long trying to do something that, yes, I could have improved with lots and lots of practice, but I don’t believe I would ever have skied at the level of those with whom I was comparing myself.
I did, however, discover that I was a natural at driving and teaching. And once I figured that out, I began to work on mastering those gifts.
The larger lesson for me is to continue discerning and developing my own gifts rather than comparing myself to, or coveting, the gifts of others.
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,” …some water skiers, some boat drivers…
BP