God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...

...the courage to change the things I can... and the wisdom to find fish, figure out how to make them eat, and put them in the boat for my clients. No matter how tough the conditions.

I sit here tonight, checking on the weather on the internet. The world wide web says things are going to be tough this week. This week is turning out to be one of the windiest weeks of the year. I get two senses of emotion when the weather isn't perfect for fishing. I feel a little bit of anxiety because I want things to be perfect for my clients. On the other hand, I get a little excited by the challenge of putting my clients on fish despite conditions that are less than ideal.

There are some things I just can't control in my life (work wise). One being the weather, and two being the appetite of fish. I've got two choices; I can either drop my boat in the water, already defeated by the conditions that I'm dealt, or I can charge into the day excited by the challenge that lies ahead. I choose the latter. If fishing was easy, then nobody would ever hire a guide. I do this because I love the pictures of smiling faces on the clients that I help catch fish. No matter how hard it is to find the fish, no matter how hard it is to make the fish eat, no matter how tough the conditions of the day.

God, continue to grant me the desire you instilled in me. Bless those that step upon my boat. And help us enjoy the pursuit of the game fish you created for us to chase after.

Amen.

(side note... I don't know Bill W. and I hope I haven't offended anyone who does. In fact I just learned that he isn't a local fishing guide this morning. lol But, I thought you guys might find it interesting/funny how I came up with this topic.... The idea for this blog entry came from a movie I watched the other night. The movie was called Mr. Brooks. The main character was a high profile business owner who had a split personality. His split personality made him want to kill people for fun. Now I know that sounds horrible and how could I relate that to fishing? Well, he kept saying the "Serenity" prayer in an attempt to stem of his desire to kill. I couldn't help just thinking about the prayer he kept saying though. I kept thinking about how frustrated I had been of late with the weather and how I had no control over it. I had heard that prayer somewhere before and the movie just reminded me of it. I think it’s an awesome prayer and to hear it again reminded me that I shouldn't get frustrated about things I can't control.)