After a busy, social summer our family recently ended August with a week getaway at the beach. It’s one of our happy places. A place where it feels like you step back in time and can just be. It was just the four of us and our fur-baby, Stella. It was the perfect time to unplug, reconnect, escape the busy before school began, and spend uninterrupted time together.
🎣It was also a chance to go fishing! Something our family does every time we go to this particular island. We’ve been visiting this particular beach for 6 years and have gone fishing for 5. Every year we look forward to our time with Captain Jeff. The anticipation always builds as we talk about what we’re going to catch, and who’ll get the biggest fish.
🐠In previous years we’ve always focused on the person who caught the biggest fish as ultimately, ‘being the winner.’ This year however, leading up to our boating adventure the smack-talk took a whole new level as we introduced several additional ‘winner’ categories,
Captain’s choice
Most Unique
Most Caught
Biggest
I’ll even take it a bit further to say, in the days prior to our time out on the water, the males in our group were convinced they had winner title, ‘in the bag.’ My daughter and I smiled to each other as we took it all in, and quietly listened to their chitty-chat-chat about dreams of bringing home dinner.
🐟In the early hours of dawn, the day of our fishing trip arrived! Suspense hovered over us we shared with Captain Jeff the details of our friendly-wager. We all joined in on the chitty-chat-chat conversation and as the lines went in the water, the competition went down, and ended, a little something like this,
Captains Choice. My son claimed this category with the following 3 fish,
Grouper
Sea bass
Croaker (Appropriately named because yep, they croak)!
Most Unique. My husband took the lead here with,
2 different types of grouper
Most Caught. My daughter remained consistent in her approach with the following 5 fish,
Toadfish
Croaker
Flounder
Lizard Fish
Pin Fish
Biggest Fish. 🐠 And last but not least.... who caught the biggest fish? Yep, me! Mama Bear,
Red Fish (biggest and dinner that night)!
Sea bass
Croaker
Before you knew it several hours had passed and our time on the boat was done. We laughed. We had fun. Captain Jeff got involved and we even talked about a few new categories we could add next year. Was everyone a winner? You could view it that way, but that really isn’t the point here. Sure I was with my family but for me this was bigger than that. I’m constantly thinking of stories and how to apply them to the work I do around female rivalry. I view this day as insight that can be applied to all relationships – you can be competitive with others and still have fun. To be competitive, you don’t have to tear down, be ugly or negative. The ultimate lesson learned here is, friendly, positive competition for ‘the win!’
Spending precious family-time together out on a boat. Breathing the fresh salty air, warmed by the rays of the sun. Competition fueled each of us, to do and to be better. We pushed ourselves. But we also supported each other and celebrated one another each time a line went taut and a fish was reeled in. Making memories, being better together.
You already are. It’s time TO BE.♥️
P.S. Stay tuned for my blog out next week about ‘circles and friendship.’
I say that it’s time to be different. It’s time to talk about relationships and positive competition!
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⁉️Interested in learning how ‘female rivalry’ impacts the workplace? 🎉DOWNLOAD my FREE .pdf guide, ‘5 Reasons WHY Good Women Walk’ to learn more!
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