2 - Hands on Wheel - Now What?
Rick Osborn | March 17, 2008
Ok, so let’s take things a bit further. I know we talk about taking baby steps when we’re doing something difficult and trying to go from point A to point B. But, this is your life we’re talking about. It’s the only one you have and you had better make the best of it, otherwise, you’ll wake up in a nursing home (if you’re lucky enough to live that long) and wonder what in the world happened to my life. Hey, I’m 40 years old now and I’m already wondering it, so imagine what it must be like to have senioritis.
My point is this - none of us have the luxury of waiting to be or do what we’ve always dreamed about being or doing.
In case you haven’t noticed, time is not on our side. The key is, we must do it now.
If you followed the four points in my previous post, you should now be standing on your ship with the control wheel in your hand. If you’ve been able to accomplish this, then you’re ready - ready to start living the life that you’ve wanted to live. It’s time to steer that ship of yours to the “promised land” - you know - the place where you’ve been wanting to be, but just haven’t yet been able to realize.
Ok, let’s stop here for a sec and clarify something. First off, if most of your life is already in order (you know, you make good money, you have a great job, home, family, etc. and you’re reasonably happy), then you may already have most things under control. But, if you’re like most people, there’s probably an area or two that just keeps tripping you up. Perhaps there’s something going on with you that you just can’t seem to overcome. Whatever your case may be, you can apply this “ship” principle to your particular issue or situation. Again, think of your life as the ship, and perhaps you’ve got some other captain (a nagging issue, problem or even a person) who’s standing at the wheel and taking you somewhere you don’t want or need to be. Now - not tomorrow - but NOW is the time to take the wheel back and return to the right course, before you end up so far away from where you should be, that it’s virtually impossible to get back.
You may be wondering why I keep dwelling on this “ship” or “boat” analogy as opposed to just talking about your life. Well, I’m hoping that in doing so, you’ll be able to separate yourself a bit from your life and look at what’s going on with you, objectively. If you can visualize what I’m talking about, then you can apply it directly to your own circumstance or existence. This brings up an important point:
Sometimes we get so caught up in the drama of our problems, that we become paralyzed and are unable to do anything about them.
We lose perspective in the cloud of our despair and fail to see the solution clearly. That’s why it is of utmost importance that you try to step outside of your life and see things through the eyes of a third party observer. Hence, the ship analogy. Furthermore, that’s why it’s often helpful to speak to someone wise outside of your circumstances who can help you clarify things a bit. That’s exactly what I do when I meet with people who are dealing with nagging issues.
Ok, so “baby steps”. I’ll keep pressing forward, so if you’re still with me here, you’re doing well. Hang on to that wheel and I’ll start to tell you next how you can find out where to steer your ship (life) from your current location.
