"Is this water safe to drink?"

This past weekend I supervised a canoe tour of the Toronto Islands. (Yeah, I have an awesome job.) The sights were beautiful and the weather was fantastic, yet I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated as the trip progressed.

Upon arrival, the 45 of us had been divided into groups and seated in 3 giant war canoes. The tour guides told each person specifically where to sit and, because I am short/do not weigh very much, I was placed in the front of my canoe. This meant that I was the Official Pace Setter for my side of the canoe, just as the girl beside me was for her side.

The route was fairly short - canoeing from the Harbour to the Islands (a 15-min trip by ferry). I did not time how long it took us to paddle the distance, but it felt very, very long. Now, I have done a fair bit of canoeing, and the key thing to know is this: canoeing is all about teamwork. If everyone paddles at the same time, the canoe will move faster. If everyone paddles at different times (or..*cough*..not at all), it's a lose-lose situation: the canoe will not move nearly as fast AND each stroke will take more individual effort. Suffice it to say that the latter situation was what I experienced. People, if they were even paddling (i.e., taking a break from mugging for the camera), did not stroke in unison. Even my fellow Official Pace Setter and I were not paddling at the same time. [You can see in my photo how far behind the other canoes we were - but also how beautiful it was!]

Now, you should know that I am big on fairness ("James got to do xyz and I only got to do x!"), so it really bothers me when I feel people aren't pulling their weight, surtout in situations requiring teamwork.

I recognized that I was feeling annoyed at my fellow canoe-ers and realized that it was beginning to spoil what had the potential to be a great day. So then I had to make a decision: would I continue to stew about the slacking paddlers, then complain about them to my fellow monitors when it was over OR would I take the Zen Approach and not let myself be bothered by other people's actions?

It may seem obvious to you that the Zen Approach was infinitely more attractive, and it is indeed the one I chose. But it wasn't easy. Ranting about things is a very popular means of socialization, especially when you share common circumstances with people but don't necessarily know them very well (as is the case with the monitors & I). It's kind of fun to complain and gossip about Person X and Person Y. I find people are not as interested if you gush about how beautiful the weather was, how awesome the wildlife was, how fun the whole trip was - they only want to hear the juicy parts, consisting of horror stories about various "Little Shits." And I am the same way.

In essence, I chose to sacrifice an opportunity for prime socialization in favour of mental contentment. But it was the right decision to make. I was proud of myself for jokingly encouraging the guy behind me ("We need all the strong men to paddle!") instead of silently stewing and feeling bitter. I was able to properly enjoy the trip and avoid the, er, negative effects of negativity.

And besides, I may have not had any reason to be bitter: maybe they just didn't know how to paddle!