Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Suppose you are the captain of your own sailboat. You are planning a trip from the East Coast of the United States to England. You obtain the appropriate navigational charts and carefully plot the best course to your desired destination.
As carefully as you plan, you most likely will have to change direction in order to reach your port in England. You will have to alter your course in response to the wind direction. When you encounter storms, you will navigate around them. You will also need to avoid other ships.
After you finally arrive at your destination, you may feel it's not what you expected. Or, you may decide you don't like it and would rather go somewhere else. You will then have to pick a new port, plot the appropriate course, and depart in a new direction.
Successfully navigating the oceans requires one to be ready, and able, to change direction as needed. Dealing with life's challenges requires the same adaptability. You will have to alter direction in response to a change in circumstances or a change in your desires.
What do you think would happen in the following scenario? A sailor steers his boat so that is headed in the desired direction. He then locks the rudder in position. Next, he goes into his cabin, closes the drapes, and goes to sleep, waiting to reach his destination.
You don't need any nautical expertise to recognize that any sailor who would be foolish enough to take such irresponsible action, would fail to reach to his desired destination, if not sink. Yet, as ridiculous as the above example is, this is exactly how many people run their lives.
People will pick a direction for their life, sometimes when they are very young. They will then set out on their chosen course and make few, if any, adjustments as they progress on their journey. The results can be just as disastrous as the boat with a locked rudder and no one at the wheel.
Over time, your circumstances are bound to change. You will encounter events you never planned for. Obstacles will arise without warning. You have to be ready to change direction. You may lose interest in your occupation. It may have interested you at some point, but now you are tired of it, or bored. Again, in order to not suffer, you have to change direction.
Goals can also change with time. What you used to want, may no longer appeal to you. This is normal. As you grow and acquire more experience, your desires will probably change as well. As your goals shift, you have to change direction if you are going to attain them.
Your life is your ship and you are the captain. You have the ability to pick your course. You alone are responsible for your well being. Should you happen to pick a direction that proves to be faulty, make a change. It's foolish to maintain a course that isn't taking you to where you want to go.
Changing direction is not something that only needs to occur once. You must do it as often as necessary. You may have been on the same course for a long time. If so, changing direction can require a lot of effort and commitment. When a change in direction is called for, you are free to pick any new direction you feel would be most appropriate. You are at the helm. Where your life goes is up to you.
