The Perfect Catch
It’s so serene at times.
So placid, yet comforting with that gentle breeze hitting you every now and then,
running through your hair.
So warm, as the sun beats down on you, lighting you up with fire inside that you know if you’re not careful, will burn you and then peel away.

Sometimes, you’re successful- getting exactly what you want.
Other times, you don’t get anything.
So even though you worked hard, tried everything you knew how to do,
Put your best game forward, and never gave up
The fish just weren’t biting.

So you fish that same spot,
Hoping that something will change.
Hoping that someday, your hard work will pay off,
And you will get that perfect catch.
Even just a nibble will do- Just something
To show it hasn’t all been for nothing.
Something to show that there’s at least something there.

There are trips where nothing goes right.
The rain hits, followed by thunder and lightning
And everything seems impossible.
Even on a sunny day after multiple trips,
You don’t catch anything,
wondering if “the perfect catch” is even out there.
You give up, and might even put your rod away for a while.
Never fear though, you will go back to fishing and one day,
Catch exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Even worse, you have it- just for it to be taken away.
It took almost nothing- the bite was almost instant.
The reel in was almost effortless, and by the tugging
You can tell that it’s something good,
Something big and thrilling.
That adrenaline that comes with the possibility
Of finally having it.
Its so close and then it lets loose, afraid of what will happen.
And this happens over and over again- it’s a tease.
A tease for what you could have and came so close to having,
But at the end of the day just weren’t good enough.

Then there are times when that hard work
And dedication pay off.
The amount of time to get there doesn’t matter.
The work it took is not even a present thought in your mind.
Seeing that, in your eyes, perfect catch is all that matters.
And yet, even though it would be easy to keep it, you put it back in the water,
Because you know that with time it will be even more beautiful
And enjoyable for someone else.
Gently letting it go, you imagine its friends and family welcoming
It back home to the life it had before,
Knowing you made the right decision.
Because sometimes loving something is letting it go.

On the even rarer occasion, you catch the perfect catch.
There’s not a doubt in your mind because everything feels right.
You realize that without the bad days, the teases, and the “almosts”
You wouldn’t have reached this moment.
The marveling and appreciation wouldn’t be the same.
You would never have experienced the perfect catch
That other people envy.
You now have that tale to share with your kids and grandkids
On summer night in the rocking chair on the porch about the perfect catch,
And all of the other “fisherman’s tales” you had to endure to finally how to get it.