Stoicism and fly-fishing; Week two

I’m reading Ryan Holiday’s “The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living.” As a thought exercise, I’m writing on how each daily reference relates to my fly-fishing experience.

Thanks to everyone who commented about last week's edition, your kind words are greatly appreciated.

Here’s week two

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“We cry to God Almighty, how can we escape this agony? Fool, don’t you have hands? Or could it be God forgot to give you a pair? Sit and pray your nose doesn’t run! Or, rather just wipe your nose and stop seeking a scapegoat.” —Epictetus, Discourses

I suspect we have all done it, I know I have. Made an errant cast, dropped a fly, missed a strike, and let out a string of explicatives, cursing my fate and damning an unfair god. There real culprit is the one holding the fly rod.

“There is no vice which lacks a defense, none that at the outset isn’t modest and easily intervened—but after this the trouble spreads widely. If you allow it to get started you won’t be able to control when it stops. Every emotion is at first weak. Later it rouses itself and gathers strength as it moves along—it’s easier to slow it down than to supplant it.” —Seneca, Moral Letters

Bad habits don’t look that bad at the start. But then they become familiar and become the norm. Trying to fix them is harder the longer it goes on. My fishing routine has many chances for bad habits to take hold. But years ago I learned an expensive lesson, losing a rod and reel to carelessness. Now I fight the urge to excuse a bad habit.

“If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible—for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I hear, “You make it look easy.” occasionally when I’m teaching. And after 60 years, the basics do come easily. I tell people, “If I can do it so can you.” The point of learning is not to be the person teaching you, but to achieve your own success in your own way in the time it takes you.

“How much more harmful are the consequences of anger and grief than the circumstances that aroused them in us!” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I’ve watched people break fly rods, golf clubs and tennis rackets in fits of anger. Was it worth it? I doubt it. I’m not saying action driven by anger or frustration never happen to me, but the consequences have yet to be worth it.

“In this way you must understand how laughable it is to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What advice could I possibly give? No, a far better request is, ‘Train my mind to adapt to any circumstance.’ . . . In this way, if circumstances take you off script . . . you won’t be desperate for a new prompting.” —Epictetus, Discourses

Teaching and guiding are different endeavors and require a different approach to the client. In teaching, the student expects me to tell them what to do. If I’ve done my job well they’ve learned the skill and have enough confidence to go out on their own. When guiding, the client wants me to share my expertise so they catch fish. My favorite clients, are the confident ones, they check their thinking rather than ask what to do.

“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another in reconnaissance, another on the front line. . . . So it is for us—each person’s life is a kind of battle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and do everything commanded. . . . You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life.” —Epictetus, Discourses

Sure, fly-fishing doesn’t have the gravity of a military campaign but it’s a significant part of my life - I take it seriously. Preparation, execution, post trip reflection, reorganizing gear are all part of the program and deserves not just my attention but my scholarship as well.

“Every event has two handles—one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.” —Epictetus, Enchiridion

Teaching yesterday I made a mistake and wound up putting my streamer in a tree. Embarrassing - but also a teaching moment. “As I was saying, check your backcast…” “Do as I say, not as I do.” It happens to us all, even guides…” I could have angrily grabbed the handle and yanked, likely losing the fly. Instead, I used the opportunity to show a technique that helped recover the fly. Two handles to the event, only one saved the fly.

“To the youngster talking nonsense Zeno said, ‘The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less.’” —Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers

As an instructor it’s easy to get caught up in talking about the subject at hand. Zeno’s observation is a good one, better a dialogue than a monologue. I look for natural places to pause and ask if I’m being clear and making sense. By listening I learn how well the class is taking in the information and more importantly how good a job I’m doing in presenting the information.