Keep your boat close to the shore.

“One of these days, I will set sail! I will lower my boat into the water and will explore the ocean! One of these days, I will dare to venture into the unknowing…”

Ever had thoughts like these?:))

I know I had them once, as I was looking at the Black Sea in one of my summer holidays:)

The ocean gives us power, doesn’t it? Its greatness inspires us, and it stimulates us to be all that we can be, all that we are meant to be. When we see its unlimited, blue territory, we feel empowered, free, we feel that there`s nothing we cannot do, be or have.

Still, one has to be careful and wise when it comes to “setting sail”. I know I called this article Keep your boat close to the shore, and here I am, talking about the greatness that the ocean inspires us. You are right if you feel a bit lost 😛

I will add further details, I promise so that you`ll see the message I want to convey to you today.

Let me start with an analogy:)

Let`s imagine that the shore is God and that the boat is you, it`s your soul. The shore, in its calm, warm and supportive nature, will always be there for you, it will always wait for you to come back, and it has no expectation from you, just like God, right?:)
So, since you know it will always be there for you, you take your boat ( in our case your soul) and lower it into the water, and start paddling toward the endless horizon of the ocean.

You are so happy about it, you`re so excited that you`ll feel the power of making it on your own, that you`ll feel life flowing through your veins, and that you`ll discover unknown territories.

You are so thrilled that you don`t even look back at the shore. You`re completely mesmerized by the new perspective you`re experiencing you and keep paddling, you keep paddling driven by this wild desire. The enthusiasm makes your eyes shine, and fastens your breath while the salty air fills your lungs!

To some point, it gets quiet. You stop rowing, and you look around, and you realize you`re all by yourself. The shore is way behind you; the boat is rocking due to the waves, no sound to chase away that silence, nothing you can do to prevent that emptiness creeping inside your heart.

Why did you come here?

All of a sudden, you start to feel fear. You start to be unsure of yourself, and you get restless. You feel how the ocean becomes aggressive, sending you bigger and bigger waves, the sky turns from bright blue to dark grey, the wind pushes you randomly from a place to another, and you fear that the boat will sink anytime now, as it has no chance to stand up against that storm that threatens your life!

What do you do?  What are your thoughts? How do you feel?  Amidst that danger, you pray for your life and safety, and promise yourself you won`t do something like that again. You close your eyes, and the next minute you open them, you find yourself back at the shore, safe and alive. You get out the boat, and you place your feet on the warm sand.

The weather is nice and sunny, and you wonder what happened, where has the storm gone?

You look around and you cannot help it but feel gratitude in your heart. It is gratitude for having survived, gratitude for being alive, gratitude for being “home” again.

Wonderful feeling, isn’t it?:)

The situation I described above is not too different from “the day to day storm” we face, my friend:) We are so naive to believe that we can just venture into whatever lies ahead of us, so naive to believe that nothing can affect us once we are there; so naive to believe that we are almighty and unshakable. As a matter a fact, we cannot be any weaker when we venture out like that. A “worldly storm” can begin in every moment.

What will you do then?

And when I say worldly storm, I`m referring to inner imbalance, confusion, attachment of results and of our desires, anger, disappointment and so on. When you`re finding yourself in any of these situations, you are in the middle of the “ocean”, amidst the toughest storms possible.

Why not heading back to the shore (God), my friend?

Isn`t He there for you, waiting, arms opened?

Isn`t He there to support you, to love you, to protect you?

Why would you “paddle” away from the one who created you and only wants your well-being and good?

Why would you stay all by yourself, in the middle of the ocean and storm, experiencing hardship, loneliness, fear, tension?

Wouldn`t it be easier to just keep your boat close to the shore? The water is not deep, storm cannot sink your boat, the wind cannot brake it, and it`s not hard for you to return to it, right?

Think about it for a minute, and you`ll see what I mean…:)

Much love, and stay close to the shore, it`s wiser:)

Cristina