as i get ready for another summer out west, i'm reminded . . . not all lessons come from a yoga mat.  in fact, i wrote this my first summer in montana:

We live in the age of information where all answers seem just a click of the mouse away.

I complain about my dial up service as I forge through my email, all the while checking Montana weather and searching for cheap airline tickets on Expedia. Later in the evening, during a hot game of trivial pursuit, my friends and I debate the name of a movie about an old sit-com star. It took us only a few minutes to relinquish effort pondering to the much easier and much faster route of a google search. We want the right answer and right away.

So what happens when answers to our questions, or search destinations take time? What do we do when the answer is less clear? In other words, where does one find the answers to the questions that matter most? Questions regarding the future, relationships, family, career, dreams and aspirations?

Where does one google those?

This past week I have been learning the sport of fly- fishing along an amazingly beautiful and exclusively productive span river – the exact location I am forbidden to disclose. I began the week with visions of “A River Runs Through It” running in my head and have ended my week with the realization that I know far more than I did and far less than I want. Aside from a sweet cast, I also learned some valuable life lessons from my week on the river.

• Lesson #1: As the old saying goes: “If you caught a fish each time, they’d stop calling it fishing and start calling it catching.” In other words, if we had all the answers, there would be no divine mystery, no great joy in discovery, no place to aspire. Not to mention, incredibly boring.

• Lesson #2: After my second day of catchless fishing, I am reminded to forget the destination and enjoy the journey. I realize there is so much more to my day than actually catching a fish. I saw an amazing sunset, spectacular mountains, an awesome waterfall, and enjoyed the company I kept. Once I let go of what I wanted to happen (replay movie and think Brad Pitt), I could enjoy what was. And it was fabulous!

• Lesson #3: There are plenty other fish in the sea – or in my case, trout in the river. If you continue to cast your line in the same water over and over again with no luck, move on!! I fished one pool where there were some fairly large fish all feeding near the surface. Yet it didn’t matter how perfect my cast was or how many flies I tried, those fish wanted none of me. I think they were taunting me actually, but this could have been my own paranoid delusion birthed by Lesson #4.

• Lesson #4: It sucks to be surrounded by others catching fish when you are not catching any. It sucks even more when they all begin to watch you, critique you, give you advice, or attempt to do it for you. When frustrated, refer to Lesson #1 again.

• Lesson #5: Since I’ve already broken the profanity rule, I’d like to list a few more items on my “what sucks” list: To trip, to slip, to fall; to look foolish while you wave your rod grandly in the air and snag a tree behind you, and then to sit on the bank, untangling your line while your friends catch yet more fish. Remember, these are just moments and these moments pass.

• Lesson #6: Patience.

• Lesson #7: Face your fear! My very adept tour guides thought it would be an adventure to explore a cavern where the river flows underneath. I would be forced to climb down (and back up) a very steep and very slippery hill – and I'm afraid of heights! I will admit to times I was close to tears and tempted to turn around, but by working through it, I found myself in a fishing nirvana. I caught and released quite a few rainbows that day.

• Lesson #8: When you have to cross the treacherous rapids, hold someone’s hand.

• Lesson #9: Listen. Though full of all the unbridled enthusiasm of an eight year old, I found I learned as much sitting on the bank as I did in the water. When I was quiet, watching the water, listening for the fish to rise, reflecting - I then developed my own intuition. Something I could rely on more and more.

And in between all this learning, I even caught some fish!