STAYING ON COURSE

Watching the waves roll as the ship glides through them, the Caribbean Sea reminds me of how our life can unfold in a most powerful way.

On our way to Caymen Islands having had a day at sea followed by an afternoon in Jamaica, I was spending some quiet time outside on the ship's Lido deck . The water's depth at this point is approximately 2680 feet and powerful beyond measure. The ship is approximately 2534 tons of iron and steel, a force that moves on its course moving gracefully through the magnificent azure blue waters.

Here you stand with a mind as powerful as the mighty ship. Our youth is spent guided by others until we, at the least, get out of high school. Once we enter college we usually know what direction we want. If we are not sure there are counselors available to assist us. But for the most part we enter college ready to follow the course that calls to us. Not all of us can stay the course for four years and take a little longer to graduate. And some of us have a course that leads to Graduate School.

When you have setbacks in life, you move on and not let the temporary barriers stop you from getting where you want to go. Look at any person who has invested thousands of dollars in their education and fails one class. They take another class until they pass it. Sometimes it means taking the same class over again. What you know is that if you keep your eye on your goal you advance closer to your destination, sometimes a lot faster than even before. It is just a matter of taking life as it comes and move through challenges with ease and confidence. Like the ship, to do otherwise would be foolish. If the ship's captain decided to call it quits in the middle of the cruise there would be a mutiny by the passengers.

The captain stays focused on where he is going and handles whatever comes up. Sometimes passengers get sick and have to be airlifted to the closest hospital that may require changing course. This happened on a cruise to the Panama Canal last year and we could not go to Aruba as planned. We went to Jamaica instead because we needed to arrive at the canal in the appointed time for the ship to enter the lock. The captain was not at all disturbed by the complaints of the passengers and just stayed the course prepared to change it every time it became necessary, with the final destination in mind.

Our lives are a lot like the ship in the ocean. We forge ahead by remaining focused on our destination. When we get distracted, we identify what is really important to us and remove those activities that get in the way. It's extraordinary how quickly your priorities can change when you want something and are determined to get it. You are guaranteed to arrive at your destination when you keep an optimistic outlook and unwavering confidence. You become very adept at tailoring your path every time you remember your course and stay on it.
Your power is in believing you can go wherever you want and thinking about how to maneuver through life to get there.