2020-33 Everybody's Canoe

A young brave was busy at work carving a canoe out of a log. As he worked, members of his tribe passed by. They all had a piece of advice to offer the young man.

“I think you are making your canoe too wide,” one of them said. The young brave, wishing to show respect for the advice of an elder, narrowed the canoe.

A little later, another warrior stopped and said, “I’m afraid that you are cutting your stern too full,” he said. Again the young brave listened to the advice of the elder and cut down the stern.

Very soon, yet another member of the tribe stopped, watched for a while, then commented, “The bow is too sheer.” The young brave accepted this advice as well and changed the line of the bow.

Finally, the canoe was complete and the young brave launched it. As soon as it hit the water, it capsized. Laboriously he hauled it back onto the beach. Then he found another log and began his work anew.

Very soon, a member of his tribe stopped by to offer some advice, but this time the young brave was ready.

“See that canoe over there?” he asked, pointing to the useless craft on the beach. “That is everybody’s canoe.” Then he nodded at his work in progress. “This one,” he said, “is my canoe.”

There are many times that we tend to be the ones in this story giving the advise. When a patrol leader is assisting with teaching a new skill to a scout for their rank advancements, or when the cub scout has been given the assignment to make their own pinewood derby car… sometimes the voice of others take over the project and it is no longer just that scout’s work. I personally am guilty of once hijacking my son’s pinewood derby car. Dad’s pinewood derby might look amazing, but is it really the design that the young cub scout was desiring? It’s totally fine if the project or task fails every now and then…failure is good learning moment.

When I was a young scout, we had the best Scoutmaster. Mr. Davis. What made him great was his ability to teach. He even told us at the beginning of each lesson, “now, I’m only going to show you how to do this once and it’s up to you to learn and remember this.” He understood that each one of us had different skills, talents, and learning abilities. When it came time to pass off your requirements with him, it didn’t matter your process of learning as long as you could pass off the final end result with him. He was always there if we needed to ask for his advise, but never did he push his ideals of how the project or task should be completed. Best of all, I now incorporate what I learned from Mr Davis those many years ago.

The early 1900’s American poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay said, “I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”

Let us be courteous when giving advice. Like the young brave in the story, they may take your advice out of respect. But in the long run, your ideas may not be the most beneficial for the one that your giving the advise to.