105 Marbles
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
In Marble 247, I explained how I had chosen my grad quote, “A ship in a harbor is safe—but that is not what ships are built for.” Yesterday’s marble, however, has me thinking about how I approach life: Do I really sail my own ship or am I more like someone who sits and rows her rowboat?
I’m realizing how much time I spend in a rowboat. When you’re rowing, your vantage point is the past - where you’ve been. To chart your course (your future) you have to crane your neck around and look to where you’re going. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t a great way to navigate through life. What would it take for me to let go of my focus on the past and start sailing my boat into the future?
In his book, Mind Power in the 21st Century, John Kehoe writes, “Keep your conscious mind busy with the expectation of the best, and make sure the thoughts you habitually think are based upon what you want to see happen in your life.” This is what it would look like to turn my boat around and decide where I’d like to travel. Yet, I often spend mind power dreading what I don’t want to happen in my life - in other words, I avoid recreating the past. But a focus on the past, even if it’s avoidance, somehow gets me rowing in circles, constantly recreating what I’ve already experienced. My connection to the past prevents me from creating what I really want in my life.
If rowing down the stream hasn’t gone so merrily or so gently then it’s sometimes challenging to see that the future could be any different, especially if my back is to it. But if, as the ditty goes, “life is but a dream”, what kind of dream do I want to create?
My family is steeped in stories that don’t end well, but that is in the past. It’s time for me to turn this boat around and head into the future of my own creating.
Is your mind busy with the expectation of the best? Do you keep your thoughts focused on what you want to see happen in your life?
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
In Marble 247, I explained how I had chosen my grad quote, “A ship in a harbor is safe—but that is not what ships are built for.” Yesterday’s marble, however, has me thinking about how I approach life: Do I really sail my own ship or am I more like someone who sits and rows her rowboat?
I’m realizing how much time I spend in a rowboat. When you’re rowing, your vantage point is the past - where you’ve been. To chart your course (your future) you have to crane your neck around and look to where you’re going. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t a great way to navigate through life. What would it take for me to let go of my focus on the past and start sailing my boat into the future?
In his book, Mind Power in the 21st Century, John Kehoe writes, “Keep your conscious mind busy with the expectation of the best, and make sure the thoughts you habitually think are based upon what you want to see happen in your life.” This is what it would look like to turn my boat around and decide where I’d like to travel. Yet, I often spend mind power dreading what I don’t want to happen in my life - in other words, I avoid recreating the past. But a focus on the past, even if it’s avoidance, somehow gets me rowing in circles, constantly recreating what I’ve already experienced. My connection to the past prevents me from creating what I really want in my life.
If rowing down the stream hasn’t gone so merrily or so gently then it’s sometimes challenging to see that the future could be any different, especially if my back is to it. But if, as the ditty goes, “life is but a dream”, what kind of dream do I want to create?
My family is steeped in stories that don’t end well, but that is in the past. It’s time for me to turn this boat around and head into the future of my own creating.
Is your mind busy with the expectation of the best? Do you keep your thoughts focused on what you want to see happen in your life?
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