With this text, I invite you to think of life as a vast ocean, with countless horizons, storms, sunny and calm days, moments of excessive stillness, huge waves, small waves, headwinds and tailwinds, tsunamis, currents, waterspouts, deep waters, shallow waters.
If in that ocean, each person is a boat, how do you think yours is equipped? Does it have a motor, sails, oars? Does it have modern, computerized navigation equipment? Or does it come with a compass and a couple of maps? Does it have oars, lifeboats, life jackets, flares? Do you think you can add tools, or that's just it?
And, how are you at navigating?
Often, we don't realize that we have to pilot our vessel, steer it, get to know it, learn to operate its equipment. It is our sole and non-transferable responsibility to steer our ship, but often we fail to do so. We forget that we are the captain and let ourselves drift aimlessly. It is true that strong shocks can cause this breakdown and leave us momentarily paralyzed.
Like the popular saying, "Every cloud has a silver lining," moments of paralysis can open the door for us to reconsider our course.
Sometimes the course is right; it is where we want to go. However, by not knowing how to identify the currents, winds, and seas we must cross to reach that horizon, we get lost due to a lack of steering skill.
When this is not the case, and it becomes clear that the course is not really right, it is important to develop sufficient internal flexibility to avoid becoming attached to the initial plan and to dare to take a sharp turn. We must be careful, however, that in our enthusiasm, we don't get caught by a loose wind that turns against us.
Life, like the ocean, is in constant change and movement. And, also like the ocean, it offers us no guarantees. It is essential to remember we are the pilots and captains of our ships. Sometimes you can do more, other times less. Sometimes you have to shut down everything, lower the sails, and wait for the storm to pass. But no storm lasts a hundred years, and staying connected to your own life is important to identify favorable currents, sure winds, opportunities to approach the horizon, or even change course in time.
Lic. Noelia Dalbert
