Ride the Jetstream #goals #relationship #buildingtrust

I remember watching Finding Nemo with my kiddos when they were little and while I was probably too exhausted at the time to get anything from it other than having my kids occupied for an hour and forty minutes, a scene in the movie has been quite useful to me in adulthood. There was a moment in the movie where Nemo’s dad hitched a ride with some sea turtles on the East Australia Current, a powerful Jetstream that travels eastward toward the southern Pacific moving the loggerhead turtles toward Peru and Chile.

When I’m working toward an important goal, I reflect back on this Jetstream and all that it represents when trying to reach what can seem like a faraway destination. This can be a life goal or a relationship goal, or both.

Nemo’s father ends up in this Jetstream because he was exhausted from his journey and literally unconscious from an incident that happened along the way. The turtles scooped him up and let him ride until he came to consciousness. While we may not have anyone to rescue us, exhaustion can be a sign to sit for a bit and evaluate, and re-evaluate. When Nemo’s dad awakened he could have fled from the help, but he allowed himself to ride along the turtles,...to trust.

When we are struggling, it’s important to reach for help and if help is not there, we must consider our resources: a therapist, groups with like minds, books, magazines, the internet, the library, and if we are fortunate enough, friends and family.

There was a moment when one of the little turtles hit something in his path and popped outside the Jetstream. That can happen with us when we get nervous, have self-doubt – we might pop out of the path that feels right for us when we hit an obstacle and reach for something that doesn’t feel quite right desperately hoping that will correct the problem.

In the movie the little turtle struggled and the dad allowed it, giving the little guy an opportunity to recognize he was outside of the Jetstream, to notice what that felt like, to see the difference in energy of being in the Jetstream versus outside the Jetstream.

This is how we build resiliency and self confidence in recognizing what is working and what is not. Without the struggle we cannot strengthen critical thinking. The little one gathered himself, re-calibrated and popped back into the Jetstream. Dad also gave him opportunity to build his confidence within the Jetstream by giving him a small task. It’s through the small successes that we build confidence.

We may not have had parents in our lives to help us with these life lessons, but there is much to be learned from the nature and flow of life if we open ourselves to curiosity and noticing. And there are people around us that can help through many different formats, we just need to reach for them and allow a little trust even if it’s through the safety of an internet blog.