Soar Like Pelicans!
May 19, 2025
"Wave slope surfing has taught me to soar in the midst of trying circumstances."
--Jan McDonald
Dennis has been challenged with a health issue and hasn't worked since Thanksgiving. The docs (and there were many of them) have done every test and haven’t found anything wrong. At first, we thought it was the small mass that they found on his kidney because of all the symptoms. The small mass was removed at the end of March and thankfully it was benign. However, some of the symptoms remain.
Our first response to this trial was, “when is this going to be over?”
Isn’t that how we face most of our circumstances? “I want this to be over how can I fix this maybe this will work or that will work what can I control?”
The Good Book says, “Consider it all joy when you face trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” SHUT UP. Thank you very much—I don’t need any more endurance.
Watching my loved one suffer has been the hardest, especially because there hasn’t been anything I could do to fix the situation. I’ve had to stay positive, because I needed my creativity and good attitude not only for Dennis but for those I serve in coaching and training.
This brought to mind something I learned from pelicans at the Oregon Coast. (You can barely see the pelicans in the picture.) Wave slope surfing is a technique that pelicans use where they glide just inches above the ocean surface, using the slight air pressure created by the forward slope of a wave. By positioning themselves at just the right angle and height, they ride the wave’s energy with minimal effort—soaring for miles with barely a flap. It has taught me to see the “waves’’ in my life with a different perspective. 
How does this apply to our lives?
1. Pelicans don’t fight the waves; they use the momentum to carry them forward. Instead of resisting or trying to control that which we can’t, we can learn to ride the energy of the situation. We can use the “wind” to grow and change rather than to wallow in self-pity.
2. Pelicans fly close to the water—just inches above the danger--where the lift is strongest. The bigger the wave the faster they go! Leaning into our challenges often gives us the greatest insight and growth. I’ve been learning to move toward the emotions that I’m feeling rather than running from them. Those of you who know me, know that this has been a struggle for me.
3. The powerlessness feeling has been so brutal. Pelicans don’t struggle with powerlessness; they go with the flow. They don’t work harder to try and fix their situation, they just soar.
4. When pelicans crash, they regroup. Pelicans don’t stop flying because they fell once. Similarly, our strength grows each time we get up after falling. Resilience isn’t about never crashing—it’s about remembering that we can fly again.
As Dennis and I search for more solutions—I know we’ll find one. But when the next wave comes—and it will—I will remember; I was never meant to outrun it or resist it. I was meant to use its energy to soar above it. Even if I crash, I am not defeated; I’m getting ready to fly again.
What wave are you facing that could become an updraft if you changed your perspective?
Need some help? I’m an email away.
Learning from pelicans,
Jan
Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team
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