which boat will you be on?
So much of our lives is determined by our choices and our commitment to each choice we make. Where to live—who to love—what to do—who to be … In many ways we seem almost too free in those choices! But we resist making them because then we’re afraid we’ll be un-free. “Keep your options open,” my parents used to tell me. But that meant quite a bit of floundering as I explored many possibilities for which boat to choose. Now I realize that there are not really any choices to be made but rather promises to be kept. Commitment is more freeing than not deciding. When we’re trying to choose between this boat or that boat, the mental game is exhausting. But there’s actually no right or wrong boat. Any of them is going to take us on an adventure—of life. What’s most important is that we get on the boat and set sail. And that we commit to that boat. That we don’t harbor longings for a different boat, or second-guess our choice, or think we should have chosen something different. Once we’ve made the decision, it’s not as though we could have made a different one. The only boat that exists is the one we are in now—so let’s be in it with our whole heart and soul. And, remember, we are always free to get off at the next port of call.