Equanimity

The American Heritage Dictionary describes this as:

Calmness, composure. It comes from a latin word meaning “even-tempered.”

I think that cruisers are forced to learn equanimity. From the day you buy your boat a list will start, if not written down, it will be in you head… the list will grow. As you check things off, the list will grow. Some people never leave the dock as they think they will leave when the items on the list have been completed. The list is the project list. You can’t escape it. You can ignore it and it will be there. It can be lost because you didn’t back up the computer and it will still be there. You can get off the boat for a while and it will be there. You can work long days and stay up all night and it will be there. No matter how hard you work it will get longer. One cruiser said he thought the list grew at the same rate when they were off the boat as on the boat… and having left the boat, I tend to agree with him.

The question is can you live with your list and be equanimous? We have good friends who we have always admired because they seems so cool, calm and composed… always. Today we saw them frustrated and upset by a series of problems. It was almost a relief (even though we feel for their troubles) to see that even those who seem most composed can lose it.

My list… yes. Today I did nothing to reduce my project list and added only a couple things to it… Hey, it's Lara's birthday!