Ways to convey a sense of attentiveness and responsiveness to something beyond your control?

Solution 1:

"Adjust the sails"

A saying that comes to mind about change and control attributed to William A. Ward and also John Maxwell (ref.):

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”

Adjusting the sails captures the temporal sense you give. When you are regularly tuned in and attentive to the environment or atmosphere, you are constantly adjusting course to control what you can while recognizing what you can't. The Serenity Prayer also comes to mind, but that might fall into your "overused" category.

This metaphor seems to fit with your description of emotional waves and happens to involve water to boot. It has been used in leadership parables where "leader" replaces "realist." This speaks to mindfulness and responsiveness about the way you lead your life.