One of my kids just finished two weeks at sleep-away camp. His favorite part about camp this year was learning to sail.
We heard that in the cabin next door to us here on vacation in Maine is a 60-year-old sailboat that my wife’s uncle built when he was a kid. My son had the great idea today to go digging into the garage to find the boat and see if it’s sailable.
Who knows what we’d find in that garage. Among spiders and old lake furniture, would the boat still exist? Would it still be in one piece? Would it even work?
We’ve always got questions about whether our effort will be worth it, whether it will yield good results, or whether we might miss out on something else.
It’s much easier to sit still on the dock than to go digging through an old garage. But sometimes we can't sail unless we're first willing to go into that old garage.
One of my commitments is to act from inspiration as soon as possible, so when my son asked me to get the boat with him, though I wanted to keep sitting on that dock, I got up and we explored. We found the boat, got it into the lake, and set it up!
Where are you just sitting on the dock in your life? In calling up that old friend? In apologizing to or forgiving a sibling? In speaking up about what you want or feel you need? In applying for another job?
The dock feels comfy enough, and maybe it’s authentic for some of us to just sit there all day. But if we’re feeling a calling to get up and move in a particular direction, perhaps it’s time to do that.
The truth is, however, most of us aren’t sitting on the dock instead of getting out the boat and sailing. No, unfortunately most of us are just trying to keep our heads above water and not drown.
Life, for most of us much of the time, isn’t a matter of sailing or not - it’s a matter of drowning or not. Much of life is something we put up with, make it through, survive, or get by.
Something else is possible, and all it takes is being willing to get up and off the dock.
Sure, no one spending life sitting on the dock will ever step in dog-doo, but neither will they live a fulfilling life.
There’s a spirit calling to us and giving us gentle nudges each day. What might it be like to honor the call of that spirit and move where it nudges you to go?
Perhaps the choice isn’t between sitting on the dock and heading into the garage. Perhaps the choice is between whether to live fully and authentically or not.
Which do you choose?
Much Love. ❤️
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