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Being in a sailboat in the middle of a stormy sea isn’t my favorite thing to do. Last week I was sailing in the British Virgin Islands during a very windy day at sea. We had to cover nearly 15 miles, with the seas averaging 8-11′ swells, complete with huge crashing-rocking-and-rolling waves and high winds.

Stormy Weather
Stormy weather

We had our friends Arielle and Brian with us on the boat and although they were great troopers, there came a point when it wasn’t as fun as the first 15 minutes in rough seas. At some point the waves were bigger than the boat. I remember being in the lower cabin watching the water go above the windows and then clear again as we’d crest the next wave.

My mind works in random ways. Maybe it was the vertigo of the waves, or too many days at sea, but I spent time pretending I was a fish. I questioned, if I were a fish who lived off of a ridge at 30-40′ in depth, could I tell the difference on a sunny, calm day versus a sunny, windy day?

Would the seas be much different if I went deeper?

If I were swimming at the surface, it would be dramatically different than it would be at 40′ deep. The calm sunny day would be tranquil and basically uneventful, while the stormy day would toss me about from wave to wave and drop me into troughs in between.

But regardless of the weather- sunny or stormy, could I tell the difference if I went deeper? The deeper I go, the more stable it is- regardless of what’s happening at the surface.

Just life anything in nature from a mighty oak tree to the tiniest flower, the deeper you go the more sturdy the plant. And, like the laws of physics, there is less rocking in the bottom deck of a ship than on the top deck because you’re closer to the fulcrum point.

I can tell you from my experience as a scuba diver, life as a fish (or a diver) is much more predictable and calm at 40′ deep than it is on the surface.

Fish At The Surface
Fish at the surface

Just like life, the deeper you go the less motion and turbulence you get in life. If you live your life at the surface you will be susceptible to the passing winds and the turbulence of each passing day. At the surface you’ll be tossed about by each passing wave or breeze.

However, if you go deeper within yourself, you’ll find stability that you might not have remembered was there. For when you connect to the deeper part of who you are, you cannot be tossed about like a small boat in a big ocean. You’ll realize instead that you ARE the ocean.  And from that realization, comes confidence and stability.

When you take the time to go deeper to the core of who you are, there’s much less turbulence around you and you’re much less attached to the turbulence of what appears to be happening at the surface of your life.

So next time life seems to be tossing you about the waves, dive a bit deeper into the core of who you are. From that place of stability you’re better able to weather the storm, even if the waves at the surface are big ones.

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Gail Lynne Goodwin is the founder of InspireMeToday.com, bringing the best inspiration to the world. InspireMeToday.com provides free inspiration, each day from a new Inspirational Luminary, to a global community of folks from over 150 countries. Gail has interviewed many well-known names including Sir Richard Branson, Guy Laliberte, Seth Godin, Tony Hseih, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Gerber, Marci Shimoff, Jack Canfield and hundreds more. According to Mashable, Gail was one of 2009's Top 25 Most Inspirational People on Twitter.

Prior to InspireMeToday.com, Gail spent several years as manager for her recording artist daughter, Carly. As a result of the success of their co-penned song, "Baby Come Back Home", Gail accompanied her daughter to bases in the US and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where Carly performed for our troops. Gail and Carly created the 'World's Longest Letter' of love and support and delivered the 18-mile long scroll on a month-long tour of Iraq and the Persian Gulf in 2006.

Gail is excited to present her latest course, Love in 21 Days, a step-by-step guide to finding love online. Love in 21 Days is founded on a logical process that has been tested - and proven! - by not only Gail, but also by students around the world who too have found love.

Gail is a published author and a regular writer for the Huffington Post. She offers mentoring and mastermind services to clients worldwide from her home in Whitefish, Montana. Follow Gail on Twitter or Google+.

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