PADDLER 35
Tom and I have got much better at communicating on the river! Photo: Jack Grace would be able to make those moves that day. All the lemons were there, and most were around my body, telling me it had had enough. Getting on might have worked out but it also might not have, resulting in an otherwise excellent week ending on a low. So, I chose not to get on and was happy with my decision.
Previously, I might have pushed through the tiredness and ignored the signs my body was telling me it had had enough. Days where things have gone badly have often involved this. Counting my lemons, however, has helped me in my decision-making. Hitting those three or more lemons makes me think through a decision. Sometimes, I still go through getting on the river or running a drop, which I’ m not 100 % sure about. But sometimes I don’ t. Counting lemons is not a blanket rule for me in my kayaking but instead a useful tool.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I know some points will be raised by people reading this particular blog, and I wanted to address them before I end this article.
Firstly, many people struggle with talking themselves out of paddling due to reasons such as being overly anxious. Giving potentially already anxious people a way to justify talking themselves out of getting on things that they are fully capable of paddling could be unhelpful for them.
However, as an anxious person, I encourage you to talk about these lemons with another person. I often find things that I am worried about are things that exist only in my head and not in reality. Talking through those things with my husband or a close friend can help me identify if things are real. So, by talking about my lemons, my loved ones help me decide whether they are real. Being anxious about running a drop because you have previously dislocated your shoulder is a legitimate lemon. Being anxious about running a drop because a swan looked at you funnily at the get-on is probably not a legitimate lemon. Talking with trusted people about your lemons is a good thing to do.
The second point people might think whilst reading this article is that‘ counting lemons’ is not enough to always keep you safe. I would wholeheartedly agree with those people! Keeping yourself and others safe in an adventure sport is a complicated process. There are so many things to consider, which is why everybody should take a safety course when they start kayaking and then take an active role in considering safety when paddling so that those skills can be practised! You can read a blog I wrote about this specifically: https:// delkayaks. co. uk / 2020 / 05 / 25 / why-being-safe-is-the-first-step-tobecoming-an-independent-boater.
Counting lemons is one particular tool that I find very useful, but it’ s not my only tool! Also, kayaking is an adventure sport for a reason, and even when you consider every safety aspect and make all the right decisions, things will still go wrong. The safest thing would be to not kayak at all, but then you would miss out on all the fantastic things this sport offers.
This article ends. I find counting lemons incredibly useful, so I wanted to share it with you all. I hope it’ s given you some food for thought.
As always, happy paddling!
PADDLER 35