As I get older, I feel like life is getting busier. I think this is a feeling shared by many. I’m not sure entirely why it happens; is it manufactured or real? Nonetheless, there seems to be less time for fishing. The good thing about it is that I’m starting to appreciate being in the great outdoors more than ever. I had a lovely weekend at the coast, and the few short fishing sessions I had seemed to be amplified by the recognition that it is not as common as it used to be.
It has become opportunistic, as opposed to planned. It’s the hour you can get here, or the 40 minutes you get there. And for that reason, I think you almost enjoy it more. Don’t get me wrong: my idea of the perfect holiday is 10 days of solid fishing with my best mates, but it’s sometimes the smaller, seemingly insignificant sessions, that can be the best for the mind, body and soul.
I was lucky this weekend. I had a few opportunities; not long, but immensely satisfying. Perhaps the truncation of my expectations enhanced the experience. I’m not entirely sure, but there were periods of a few minutes, here and there, where I simply thought to myself: I am lucky.
Looking around, seeing, smelling and hearing. Concentrating on everything around me, but nothing else. None of the usual pressures of ‘what happened yesterday’, or ‘what am I doing tomorrow, or the next day?’, but just being there, in the moment, trying to catch a bream or a salmon and experiencing the beautiful landscape around me.
It doesn’t get much better. Perhaps, as we get older, we appreciate these moments more.
Well put. As I get older I find I am appreciating the simplicity of nature more and more. And yes those fishing opportunities are all too brief ☺