The Waterskiing Principle

When talking about community development and big projects, Muhammad Alshareef has used this analogy to water-skiing.

When you start water-skiing, you float in the water in your life jacket and skis, holding on to the rope attached to the boat. At this point, most of the rope is beneath the surface of the water, you don’t see it. Then, the boat starts pulling the rope taut and you still don’t see it. But you know it’s getting pulled, although you still don’t feel it. And then suddenly you feel the pull of the rope and you’re pulled up on your skis (or in my case you fly in the air and fall on your face in a big splash).

Often, when you’re doing community work, you won’t see the results right away. You keep working and working and nothing seems to be happening. It’s like the boat that’s pulling the rope under the water. Nothing seems to be happening. But underneath the surface, the rope is being pulled and it’s just a matter of time before it gets pulled taut and you’ll be pulled up on your skis (and hopefully not fall on your face in a big splash).