Here I am. This is me. Messy, loud, emotional, loving, generous and I get things wrong. But sometimes I also, get things very right. I will always keep trying though; adjust my sails and try again. I may float for a while after a big storm, but I will try again.
Life is hard. That’s it. It’s hard. I feel like when we are little, we have all of these ideas that life is going to be magical and easy once we finally are able to escape the bird’s nest and be our own person; an adult. Make our own choices, create our own rules. We will have freedom!
The problem is, we get out on our own and we eventually realize, life is not easy. It is not meant to be easy but I think too many Disney movies showed us to this “Happily Ever After” dream.
With learning and knowledge though, we can make our lives a little easier as we navigate some big challenges and obstacles. How we learn to adapt, and knowing that it’s okay to change course or that life is not always going to be smooth sailing, is helpful for us.
I feel like life is like a big boat. Picture, if you will, a big, wooden boat — much like a ship in the 1800’s with port holes, and being powered by the men underneath with big rowing oars. We leave our parents’ boat and we board our own boat. Perhaps ours will be sailing behind our parents’ boat for awhile or perhaps we completely sail the opposite way!
We are now the captain and we can set our own sails, but we realize, we cannot maneuver the ship without help. We cannot operate the ship effectively to stay afloat unless we maintain the ship, fix damages and treat it with care. We need people, a crew, to help us do all of this. We need to adjust our sails, and we need to be prepared when we see a storm coming.
Sometimes we have to ride out the storms and sometimes even, a rogue wave comes and crashes over us. And sometimes, when we are lucky, the waters will be calm, and the boat is maneuvering smoothly and calmly over the waters and things just flow. The sun is bright, the wind is at rest, and we get to just breathe.
That’s what I think life is like; a boat in the water that we are trying to power, maintain, care for and keep afloat. In the good times and the bad times, the mediocre times, we need to stay focused. Keep ourselves healthy. And we need people in our corner. We need people to love on us when we have nothing more to give. We need people to give us power when we have no more and we need to learn from others who have sailed before us.
And we need to help others too.
And that is why I am starting to share my rambling thoughts and poems. In my words, I may help others too. Like many have helped me. I have seen some of the darkest times and I have continued to learn. As I have shared my story, I discovered that many people are also lost out at sea, not knowing how to navigate or what to do next, quietly struggling. What if we didn’t have to struggle alone?
What if we sailed together, weathered the storms together and learned from each other? Imagine the power that gives to others, but also ourselves.
I hope something that I write can be of inspiration to you. Thank you for sailing with me.