Chart Your Course
Do you remember what your dreams were as a child? Have you lived a fulfilled life? Have you reached your goals? Or did you get sidetracked along the way?
A great way to revisit these dreams can be found in resting your mind, forgetting for a while about the bills, the relationships, the money and all of the worries you may be having as an adult. Journal some thoughts about what it was like to be a child again. Go back to a time that is still vivid in your mind and relive it. See what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Get back in touch with that imagination that seems to have escaped you. I will share a snapshot of a very memorable day in my life.
“Remembering the first time that I went fishing with my father, I still feel the cold morning fog against my face as we rowed to the mooring where the Seabird was moored. The seat was wet in the skiff and I was shivering. The smell of the salt air was fresh in my nostrils and my Dad was sitting next to me as his crewman rowed towards the boat.
The morning started with a pancake breakfast at the Chuck Wagon restaurant. All of the fishermen were there and they were giving me a fisherman’s welcome. I was all of 8 years old and this was a big day. It was my turn to go with my dad. I remember being very happy and very excited.
It was all so foreign to me and so adventurous. The Seabird was a 40-foot wood salmon troller and my Dad also fished for tuna and crab. Today we would be chasing salmon.
I remember the roll of the boat and the smell of the diesel stove in the galley. I can still see my first caught salmon lying on the deck. I remember how proud I was that I did not get sick that day. I remember walking back to his truck to go home and how I felt as if I was still on the boat, swaying back and forth as I walked.”
I always dreamed about being the captain someday…
That was a special day that is blazed into my mind. We all have memories of our childhood that are stored into the hard drives of our mind. Buried so deep that we may have to dig deep to get them to come back.
For years I spent my life as a fisherman and a captain. For years, I felt that I would die of old age as a fisherman, that this is all there was.
Then, there was one defining moment in my life to make me realize that this was not my path. That God had something much bigger in store for me.
What is your defining moment? Maybe it has not occurred yet. If it has, when are you going to make the move towards your dreams?
It is up to you, but it takes action. You need to implement. You need to get from point A to point B. You need to chart your course and throw the lines from the pier.
Tap into your inner child and imagine a different life, a bigger game. Let your imagination go. We all have that tugging notion that there is more to life. The truth is we already know what to do. It is those who plan, prepare and set sail that will live a life of fullness and happiness.
In 20 years from now you will be more disappointed in the things that you didn’t do, than the things that you did do.
So throw the bow lines from the dock, let the trade winds fill your sail, and sail away from safe harbor.
Dare to explore, discover, and dream.
Mark Twain