Be the Ship!
How to Stop Waiting and Start Living
Hey Readers!
Have you ever heard the saying, “When my ship comes in?”
Growing up, I heard this saying a lot. Whenever my family discussed their dreams and aspirations, they’d say, “When my ship comes in . . .” Which really meant, “When I have the means, that’s when I’ll do it.”
The funny thing is, there was an actual ship my family was referring to. You see, my great grandmother immigrated to the United States from Holland in the early 1900s. Allegedly, the ship she came on couldn’t accommodate all of her family’s belongings, including their gold. Therefore, much was left behind.
Years later, a great great uncle of mine decided to return to his mother’s homeland for the family gold and other belongings. Sadly, upon arrival, it was gone and never found. At least that’s the story.
The point is when my family said, “When my ship comes in,” it was a bittersweet joke about an actual ship that never came.
So, why am I telling you this? Recently, I recognized the constraints of this mindset. . . when my ship comes in. It’s like waiting for someone else, something else, to make your dreams come true.
In fact, the more I pondered this thought, the more I grasped the miraculous truth.
We are the ship! I am the ship and so are you!
That’s right, you are the ship. All of your talents, dreams, aspirations. That is your ship. The blood, sweat and tears put into our craft, your ideas, your new business, your art, whatever IT is.
You are the ship. You are the gold.
We can’t just sit around waiting for our dreams to come true. As they say, a ship isn’t meant to stay in the harbor, it’s meant to sail!
Right now, stop what you’re doing, stand up and repeat these words: I Am the Captain of my life.
Now, if you are spiritual, this doesn’t mean you are living with pride thinking only you are all mighty and powerful. It simply means you are talking responsibility by choosing to not be a bystander in all that you’ve been blessed with. You are not going to stand by and let your life’s assignment pass you by.
You don’t need permission. You don’t need to keep waiting. What are you waiting for?
But how? How do we sail? How do we move forward when life brings us down? How do we pursue the passion we always wanted to pursue? Obtain the education we wanted to get? Achieve the goal we are aching to accomplish?
Or maybe sailing means pulling out of depression, anxiety, illness, addiction. Finding your way back to your faith. The list of life’s troubles is endless, leaving us sometimes feeling trapped. It’s easier to wait for that ship. We can avoid responsibility that way.
Disregard the belief that limitations exist because of money, time, education, resources, age, etc. That’s false thinking.
You see, there’s always been another saying in my family—It takes money to make money. Sure, to some extent, that’s true. I can’t make money on the stock market if I don’t have any to invest. I can’t rent or buy a commercial building to set up my business if I don’t have any money or credit to purchase it. Heck, we can’t even feed, clothe, or provide shelter for ourselves in this world without money.
But we do have resources. We are the ship, remember?
I’ve always been a fan of the singer Jewel. Once, she shared the inspiration for her hit song Hands in an interview. Or maybe it was during a concert I attended. I honestly can’t remember, but here’s the story. Before she was famous, she was homeless and often shoplifted to survive. She usually stole food, but one day, she wanted to steal a dress. Something about the $39.99 price tag on the dress made her ask herself, did she think so low of herself that she couldn’t make $40 to buy the dress? She decided if her hands could steal, they could create, too. So instead of stealing, she took her guitar and began approaching coffee shops to play her songs. Her resources were meager—a guitar, a voice, her creativity, and her own two hands. The rest is history, of course. She was later discovered at a coffee shop when people were lining up out the door to hear her sing.
Imagine if she had said, “Ah hell, when my ship comes in, that’s when I’ll sing.”
You see, that’s the mistake—saying “When this happens, I’ll . . .”
There will never be a perfect time. If you keep waiting for something, someone, some ship . . . you’ll be waiting forever. Only you have the free will and power to choose what path you will take.
So, what to do? How do you sail?
Right now, pull out a piece of paper. Write down every goal/dream/aspiration you have. Even the crazy ones.
Now, read the list. Those are your dreams. Those are the things you are set on this earth to do. It’s your life’s assignment.
Close your eyes and visualize it. See yourself accomplishing it.
Then, get to work. Make another list. Select a single goal, either the most important or the one that logically comes first. Break it down into smaller steps. Force yourself to think outside the box for solutions to any foreseen challenges.
Now, find a step you can take and do it. Don’t sit on it. Don’t wait. For example, let’s suppose you want to go back to school. So, call the admissions office. Or you want to lose weight. Throw out all the junk food in your house. Just do the easiest thing to get started. This will help break your procrastination. You’ll feel good that you got going!
Next, tell someone about your goal. It can be anyone. Of course, it can be your family, best friend, significant other, etc., but it doesn’t have to be. Tell a stranger. Post it on social media. It’s about the act of telling someone else to get you in the thinking that you are doing this. You are committed.
Review your list daily. Start your day with this task, but if you’re busy, don’t worry about when you do it, just do it. Reminding yourself of your goal daily will help you keep it in your headspace. When that little voice of doubt or fear kicks in, tell it to settle down. Tell it – I hear your concern, but I’ve got this. Because you do. Even when it’s hard, even when it feels impossible. Why? Because you know that even one small step each day is better than no step. All that matters is that you are moving towards your goal and aren't staying stagnant.
Soon, you’ll find yourself sailing. That’s right—steering your own ship. Being the person you were always meant to be. Walking in faith, not fear.
So, what are you waiting for? Set sail. The only time to start is now.
Till Next Time,
Sarah
AKA A Busy Lady
P.S. Here’s a bonus You Tube Video of Jewel explaining her story about writing Hands – as well as her singing it! It starts at 3:26
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