Who Steers This Ship?

Navigating Your Life Ship

Life is a journey someone once said and the journey of life is different for all of us with its twists and turns; hills and valleys; crooked and straight paths; muddy, sandy, and marshy ways; long paths and shortcuts. There are sunny and rainy days; windy and still mornings; turbulent and quiet noons as well as stormy and calm nights. Then there are the tornadoes, twisters, volcanoes, hurricanes, land and mudslides, forest fires, floods, and sand storms — Times when life is frighteningly unpredictable and nigh-uncontrollable. But really what is our relationship with life? How do we relate? How do we navigate the ship called life? When do we steer, brake, change speeds, or change direction altogether?

In the beginning, we are oblivious of the journey as we are carried by others on their own voyage. This happens from birth to about high school age. This is not to say that high schoolers don’t make life-changing decisions but by and large, parents and guardians tend to do the decision making. The real journey starts about the turn into young adulthood as up to this point, your outlook has been shaped by the journey of others like parents and guardians. It is safe to say that some don’t even realize they have to take the reigns, set the pace, regulate the speed, and navigate the ship. For this group, frustration sets in when things spin out of control. They do not realize that without a captain at the wheel or rudder, the ship will be without direction or control.

So, again the question — How do you relate with life? Are you the take-charge type who plans how and when the ship of life will go, who says to Life — This is how it’s gonna be? Do you take the laid-back, whatever-may-come approach? Are you the interventionist who only comes in when things begin to go awry? Do you take the path of supposition where others do all the work — they are ‘supposed’ to take care of you or are you the placard-carrying complainer whose perpetual whine is “This isn’t the way it was supposed to be?”

To know where you stand and whether your approach is best suited for the stage of the journey, you need to stop and take stock and ask yourself whether you are making progress. If not, perhaps it’s time to make some changes. It becomes necessary to ask yourself:- 1) Have I taken the steering wheel? Are the reigns in my hands? Am I controlling the rudder? In a sentence, am I the captain of my ship? 2) Where am I on my journey? Am I where I should be? Do I need to make some changes or adapt accordingly? 3) Am I enjoying the journey or am I struggling so hard to get to my destination that I forget to enjoy the sights, learn the lessons, and experience the journey?

I hope this will prove insightful as you make your journey. BON VOYAGE!

By Faminu Imabong

Imabong Faminu is the Founder/Chief Creative Officer at Words’R’Wine — a writing and content creation outfit. Connect with her on Twitter @IFaminu and on LinkedIn