Trusting your "gut"...it's not always easy, but sea kayakers and pilots (and the rest of us) usually have to.

Looking NE from Gabriola Island across the Salish Sea to Vancouver.

The morning view, over the Salish Sea, teaches a new lesson just about every day.

Life's biggest decisions are not always made with the benefit of what pilots call CAVOK - Ceiling And Visibility OK. That acronym usually means that the sun is shining, visual flight rules are sufficient and you can see, with clarity, everything that is important. You still have to, however, have a "feel" for what's going on.

New directions are more often born out of an amalgam of overcast and clarity - there is both a pinch of regret and a measure of hope. You just have to trust that feeling that comes from deep inside. Those who paddle sea kayaks know what it is to "trust your gut" - from reading the weather and the waves to knowing how much effort to put into a brace. Most of us know ourselves best - so trusting that "feeling" is usually the right thing to do. Then the sun shines through, things work out.

That being said, it doesn't make life's big decisions...easy.

Duncan.