Scanning the sky this morning, I saw low, dark clouds moving quickly across the skyline. They sped hurriedly over the horizon from south to north, masking the early morning sunlight rising in the east.
In such conditions, sailors of a past time would seek shelter in safe harbors rather than head out onto stormy waters. So too we ourselves must look for “fair winds and following seas” - the oft-used term for good luck at sea - before venturing out.
With inflation emerging as an ominous rising tide covering our economic shoreline, we all find ourselves searching for safe harbors. But in this case, safe harbor may be hard to come by.
Another saying that is in vogue in our current political environment advises to “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
While that phrase sheds ominous overtones relative to events in our pandemic past, there is one aspect that presents a more positive outlook regarding current circumstances.
Finding ourselves deterred from living our lives even as we came to know the experience of our lives with COVID, we might want to set a course to shelter in a more promising safe harbor as the storms blow over.
While many hunkered down during those early pandemic weeks that became months and stretched into years, others found new ways to navigate.
The point is, find something new and creative to fill your moments. Sail into new environments of grace and benevolence - the safe harbors that offer respite from the dangerous waters.
I’ll bet many of you have said, “someday I’ll write that book”, or maybe “start that blog”. Now is the time to write. I did, and it helped me express energies I might otherwise repressed.
Link up with people who are facing the same circumstances. In doing so however, do so with resolve and ingenuity rather than with a sense of calamity. It makes all the difference.
Those who operate from a faith perspective - listening to the Spirit of Truth for guidance - may find unexpected benefits flowing into their lives from places they never anticipated or expected.
There are many unexplored opportunities that - if we set our sails in their direction - will lead us into rising tides of triumph.
We will find - “fair winds and following seas.”
Rick Stecker
Rising Tides - www.RickStecker.com