The Row

There was a foolish man who needed to get to the other side of a lake. Looking around he saw a rowboat and two oars, so he got in, pushed off, and set out across the water. At first, he was moving along just fine rowing with both oars, but as he had a lot of time on his hands he began to ponder, “I’m right-handed. I bet if I put all my energy into rowing with just my right arm I can get to the other side faster.”

And so the man put down the oar in his left hand and focused on just the one on his right. Pretty soon he noticed he was starting to turn in circles. He couldn’t understand why this wasn’t working, so he figured he wasn’t rowing fast enough with his one arm. So he rowed faster and faster. But, alas, it only caused him to turn circles faster and faster. Pretty soon his right arm was tired and he was frustrated.

So he thought, “Maybe I’m fighting some current I can’t see and if I row with just my left arm I’ll be working with that current and start getting to where I need to go.” So, he put the oar in his right arm down and started to row with his left. Just as soon as he did he started straightening up and heading in the right direction again.

But, as he started to pat himself on his back for figuring things out, he noticed he was starting to turn to the left. And he turned more and more until he was going in circles again. Now he was really mad and rowed even harder until he was exhausted and almost back to where he’d started from. Growing frustrated and tired, he gave up reason and just kept switching back and forth turning circles to his right and left but never really getting anywhere.

Now on the hillside overlooking the lake sat a grandpa and his little granddaughter. The granddaughter asked, “Grandpa, why is that silly man rowing in circles in the middle of the lake? Don’t he know bad weather is blowing in?” The grandpa shook his head and said, “Well sweetheart, I suspect that man is actually trying to get to the other side, but he made the false assumption that the strength of the right would get him there faster. So he turned circles to his right. Then, when he got tired and frustrated he thought going with the flow of the left would get him there. Neither accomplished his goal because neither keeping with the currents nor the might of the right helps you move forward. It takes balance kiddo. To steer a boat you have to manage the currents and your strengths equally. When one overpowers the other you will always turn circles.”

The granddaughter looked up at her grandpa and smiled and asked, “Grandpa, do you think the silly man will ever figure that out?” He replied, “Well, sadly, probably not until there’s enough wind, and rain and thunder to force him to stop and unite his right and his left for a shared goal of survival.”