The Eighteen Thousandth, Two Hundred and...

The Eighteen Thousandth, Two Hundred and Fiftieth Plus Voyage of a Sailor

Everyday,
with the first quickening of the pulse or the roar of an alarm
clock,
we begin a new voyage,
or at least continue an old one.
Most of the time it's both.
Some take with them all they can carry, others only what they need,
some nothing at all.
Some hide in their cabin, occasionally peeking out of the port hole, and seeing nothing but
the expanse of the ocean,
quickly let the curtain block their view again and they declare "that they're going nowhere".
Others stroll about the deck ordering the crew to differing tasks,
while the crew smiles at them behind their back.
Some look about for a task that needs doing, and do it.

Many feel that they are in control of their voyage,
and as the experience of many voyages mount up,
this is an easy thing to believe.
We learn to keep a weather eye out, the temper of the sea and the tides, we learn to use the compass and the chart.
We keep an eye on the trim of the sail.
But that control is tenuous at best.
The crew mutinies,
fellow voyagers thwart our plans.
But the great random forces of the nature are the worst conspirators of all.
Continuously working against our plans and intentions to - dismast us, cast us upon unfriendly shores, or in so many other ways to keep us from our destination.
The random vagaries of the voyage thrust upon us by the wind,
the sea,
and the worst conspirator of all,
time.

All of our voyages are interrupted journeys.
And to be a good sailor is to understand that sometimes the destination must change too.
To be so rigid in our goals and our means of getting there that we can not change when the forces beset us is to risk being broken on the rocks.
One cannot sail against the wind and one cannot always arrive on time.

And as we come to the end of our voyage,
closing our eyes to rest.
Some grit their teeth and toss in torment wondering where the voyage went wrong and what they could have done to change it,
while others smile unto themselves and look forward to the next voyage.

Ishmael