Wednesday, March 28, 2018

the rogue in the ointment

At 20 mph, winds were not threatening as the Princess Hawaii laid out her nets hundreds of miles from Hawaii last weekend, according to owner Loc Nguyen.

Then the 61-foot vessel was hit by two "rogue" waves and sank. All crew members were recovered .

“It was so big, they’ve never seen that before,” Nguyen said. There was “too much water on the top and it went down....  “I don’t care very much about my boat,” Nguyen said. “I lost money, OK. But if someone was dead or something, I would feel bad all my life.”

In the midst of whatever it is, there are always "rogue" waves, I guess ... appearing against all apparent odds and sinking the ship of intention.

The Boy Scouts encourage their members to "be prepared." I guess the tricky part is always, how can you be prepared when you can't know what to be prepared for?

2 comments:

  1. You ask, "how can you be prepared when you can't know what to be prepared for."

    This type of thinking should be banned!

    Entire school curriculums should be revised to include how to think on one's feet, and how to think things through.

    My older son was fortunate enough to have a few teachers who were compassionate, really smart and well read. For example, in pre-K the teacher woud play the what if game. She'd eventually get to her point like "Stay calm and Call 9-1-1."

    The permutations of sea-based disasters aren't that great. Clearly the crew of the Princess Hawaii was well trained and the captain compassionate and intelligent.

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    1. Addendum:

      I have heard from several different Buddhist teachers from different schools and sects of Buddhism claim the same benefit to breath based meditation - that regular practice matures into the ability to access calmness in the face of stressful situations and emergencies. If my personal experience is indicative (I am not a monastic), such practice alone may not be enough in the face of certain difficult situations.

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