Written by Adrianne Huls, Program Director & Spouse Program Coordinator - The COMMIT Foundation

If you’ve ever spent a day fishing, you know that no two days on the water are ever the same. The wind shifts, the currents change, and the fish that were biting yesterday. They might be nowhere to be found today. Fishing isn’t just about patience—it’s about learning to navigate uncertainty and staying resilient when things don’t go as planned.

That’s why the tackle box is so important. It’s not just a container for hooks and lures—it’s a lifetime of lessons. Every piece of gear tells a story: what worked, what didn’t, and what you’ve learned along the way. Some lures you reach for all the time. Others sit in the corner for years… until the day the waters change, and suddenly, that overlooked lure becomes exactly what you need.

My dad used to tell me, “You have to know what you’ve got in your tackle box. You can’t just throw the same bait everywhere and expect the same results. Different waters, different weather, different fish—each calls for something different.” Back then, I thought he was just talking about fishing. But the truth is, he was talking about life.

Life is full of unexpected currents. Some days are smooth sailing. Others feel like storms rolling in from every direction. But here’s the thing: resilience isn’t about avoiding the rough waters—it’s about learning to navigate them. It’s about keeping your line in the water, adjusting your approach, and trusting that your tackle box has what you need.

Everything you’ve experienced—every skill, every mistake, every detour—goes into your tackle box. That job you thought was a dead-end? That tough season you barely made it through? Those are your lures, your hooks, your lines. You never know when one of them will be exactly what you need to catch the big one.

Good fishermen—and good people—know that uncertainty isn’t something to fear. It’s something to prepare for. When the fish aren’t biting, they try a new lure, move to a different spot, or read the current more closely. Life works the same way. When things don’t go as planned, it’s not failure—it’s a chance to dig deeper, try something different, and trust your instincts.

So don’t discount anything you’ve learned. Keep your tackle box ready, filled with curiosity, courage, and lessons from the past. Keep testing the waters, even when the conditions aren’t perfect. Because when life throws you into uncharted waters, you’ll be ready to cast again—and maybe, just maybe, catch the biggest thing of your life.

In the end, success isn’t about having the fanciest gear. It’s about knowing what you have, paying attention to the conditions, and trusting that every lesson, every tool, every experience has its purpose.

So, stock your tackle box. Keep showing up. Read the currents. And enjoy the ride—you never know what’s waiting just below the surface.