Illustration: Sketchplanations
My brother in law Chad is a large, quiet, fearless (really!) man who spent a decade of his adult life as a professional white water river guide. Besides my sweet mom, he is, in my (very, very large) family, for sure one of the most trusted and trustworthy members. The majority of us, myself included, have been down a river with him at least once and have returned to tell a story of Chad’s iron-willed heroism and brute strength on display in saving us from a watery death. For real.
A great friend of mine recently shared with me a rafting term called “point positive.” Jono Hey, the illustrator for the picture on this blog post, defines the term this way:
“Point positive is a rafting term for agreeing in advance to point towards the safe way out of danger rather than towards the dangers themselves.
So, should a raft get stuck on a rock in a rapid, pointing positive would be pointing away from the obstacles to help a raft behind navigate through safely. Or should there be an unintentional swimmer, pointing positive is pointing towards the safest channel to steer towards.
Like ‘Don’t fix the blame, fix the problem,’ point positive is a valuable metaphor and reminder that it’s often less helpful to dwell on difficulties and problems than to direct others and our energies toward positive ways forward and solutions.”
It’s often less helpful to dwell on difficulties and problems than to direct our energies toward positive ways forward.
Brilliant.
David Butler, a teacher I admire, recently told a story about an ancient prophet in my faith tradition who was facing difficulties and problems. Mr. Butler highlighted a few ways this man directed his energy towards solving his problem.
I hope you, and he, will allow me to adapt these solutions for discouragement to our purpose – our point positive!
- Go home – get back to center.
- Reach out to others who can help.
- Wrestle in prayer – or if prayer isn’t your thing, in contemplation or medittion.
- Know that difficulty is part of the process.
- Have a rest.
- Imagine heaven’s encouragement – those who have gone before you are rooting for you.
- Get back to it – through another way, if necessary!
- Look for tender mercies – they are there.
- Eat! Or at least be filled with something that is satisfying to you…. nature, water, music, etc..
- Have confidence that there is power coming your way. You just have to see it.
I can’t wait to hear about how you are pointing your raft away from obstacles and towards solutions. And if you need help with it, Chad is SUCH a good river guide. But if you’re on dry land, give me a call! I’d love to help.
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