Tacking: an exercise in progress

    Tacking is a sailing manoeuvre by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow toward and through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side of the boat to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction.

It follows that attempting to sail directly into the wind results in "stalling" the boat and making no headway, floundering. On the other hand, one could sail downwind, allowing the breeze to push you forward, a great idea when this is your chosen direction.

Our journey through life might be compared to sailing a boat. Let the wind blow you or allow the wind to challenge you.

Source: https://rs600ffclass.weebly.com/technique.html

Knowing how to meet that challenge is what gives the sailor many more opportunities to go in the direction he or she wants. Inevitably, that involves taking risks, daring to sail close to the wind.

And knowing yourself.

Getting to know yourself requires that you engage in situations that test you, that stab at your fear, push at your uncertainty. A sailor does this every time she charts her course and hoists the sail.

Doing is knowing.

Knowing leads you to doing, and in that action, understanding that you know even less.

The less you know, the more you want to know, especially if you believe that tacking will lead you there more quickly than blowing the spinnaker. The more you tack, the stronger, more resilient and creative you become. Tacking makes you choose. Tacking invites you to plant your feet and bring that baby around (not forgetting to stay clear of the boom).

Tacking is a manoeuvre by which a human being, whose desired course is into the wind, turns her brow toward and then through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction.