Ever since I was a kid, I have been a planner. Knowing what laid before me for the day was something that I took pride in doing. Whether it was who’s house we were going to hang out at that day, or where we were planning on eating, I wanted to know. “Going with the flow” was never really in my repertoire. With how our lives our structured, this makes a lot of sense to me. We live on a schedule. Those are going to differ from person to person, but they are there. We get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and go to bed. There might be some other things sprinkled in there, but for the most part, there ya have it. Breaking that monotony is downright uncomfortable for some. The unknown can be a terrifying reality.
It wasn’t until I started spending more time in the field that I realized how much this robotic type life had influenced me. To the point where I would make a plan for the next day, but then find deer in another place that I didn’t intend to go, only to find myself sticking to my plan and going somewhere else. How does that make sense?! Through doing this, I realized something else. Animals are indeed on a schedule, but they are not on YOUR schedule. If you want to find more success, you have to conform to their day. You must go where the animals are, not where you want them to be. By doing so, I took myself out of my comfort zone. Something a lot of folks never do. Being uncomfortable now and then is healthy if you ask me.
Once I started “Going with the flow” two things happened. I started learning more and I started wrapping more tags around critters. Something that I say to my brother often, which he hates, is “Ride the Wave.” He has inherited the planner gene and has the upmost disdain for these petty quotes. As he gets older, I am sure that he will start to embrace some of these remarks I make at him.
Looking back on the past handful of years, I have noticed a big change in myself. I am still a planner, but I am way more easy going than I used to be. This is all thanks to hunting. In fact, oftentimes I just go where the wind blows me on hunts. This has actually become one of my favorite ways to hit the hills. That is something I would have NEVER done years back. It might sound funny, but doing this has been really liberating for me. It makes me feel more free, than being tied down to a schedule. Worrying about the future is something that has gnawed at me in the past. Here’s the thing though. I can’t control the future. I can control what I’m doing at this very moment though. Maybe, that means wandering. Maybe, that means just sitting here. I’ll let ya know when I get there.
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