Horizons and Harbors - Things the Ocean Taught Me

No matter the weather, a ship should be at sea.  

Fellow Sunchasers - Severn River - Annapolis, MD

The wind might howl and the waves pile up like liquid mountains, but she’s safer out there with plenty of room to maneuver.  

Looking back on the days spent at anchor does one no good at all. If the weather was calm in the harbor, it’s easy to fool oneself that times were better, though in the midst of the maelstrom, the ride would be much worse bound to the unyielding rock of the land.  If things were rough near the dock, one might be tempted to take comfort in the escape to the sea, but by looking astern, miss the challenges and promise advancing from the heart of the storm.

A savvy master will keep a weather eye on the horizon to prepare for the unexpected, but that distant divide between the sea and the sky is a fantasy that the ship cannot fetch no matter how far she sails. It’s a vast sweep of possibilities where only a degree or two of course difference results in thousands of miles of change as time unfolds.

The best approach is to sail as she goes with a general direction in mind. It’s less work, and much more rewarding. Sailing from where you are allows one to surf the waves and follow the ever shifting line of the wind.  Eyes forward, but always present...that’s the course to master the elements and capture fulfillment.

-- Things the Ocean Taught Me