You Can Lead A Horse To Water...

My mom had a phrase for us growing up.  "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".  She would say this to us when we procrastinated on a project in school that she would remind us about weeks in advance or in any situation that may better our lives either in the present or the future that we refused to listen to or ignore.  I feel that I have finally fully understood the phrase.  Not that I didn't understand before, but during my time at the ranch, I have had a guest here and there that it seems impossible for them to catch fish.  Whether it is their inability to listen, the incompatibility of my teaching to their learning style, lack of coordination or overall athletic ability or the fact that I may be a shitty guide, it's hard to say.  All I know is when I take people out on the river, 98% of them catch fish.  That should be good enough to be content.  However, it is the lingering 2% that eat away at my soul, making me question what the hell it is that I am doing out here.

I've had lengthy discussions with some of the other guides about the "tough days" out on the water.  They've all had their difficulties since their first time guiding clients and emphasize the fact that I shouldn't let it get to me.  But, inevitably it does.  I'm not losing sleep over it, but the perfectionist in me hates failure and will stew over every scenario and what could have been done differently or better.  But, in the end, I can only do so much.  Occasionally, it takes every inch of my being not to grab the rod out of the persons hand, tell them they lost their privilege to fish and are done for the day and fish by myself for the rest of the trip making them watch how it's done from the bank.

And I'm a patient person!  I can't imagine someone who lacks even a fraction of patience trying to do what fly fishing guides do.  To the outsider, this job seems easy.  Why wouldn't it?  I spend all of my work day standing in a river, under the sun, teaching people how to fly fish.  What the average person doesn't understand, is the amount of pressure, stress and patience is involved.  People are paying a lot of money for my services and if I'm unable to produce, what then?  Until I catch my first fish, I am wrangling butterflies in the gut.  Once the fish hits net, the pressure is off, the skunk is out of the bag, or any other phrase you would like and we can finally just fish.

I'm not saying that I hate my job or sit and wish I was doing something else.  I'm not.  I love what I do and I wouldn't change it for anything.  But, like any job, there are some days, but more specifically, some people, whose inability, stubbornness, or incomprehension after 4 hours can take you to your breaking point and cause severe cravings for a beer and a dip in solitude as soon as you fake your thank yous, smile and wave good bye.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.  I will amend this motherly cliche to, "You can teach a person to fish, but you can't make him catch them.  At some point, I can only provide so much.  The rod is in their hands and unless they are able to learn and perform, I am simply a guy with a net standing knee deep in a river with wet pants open to conversation.

I truly do love my job.