To Be Human … Or Not To Be

  You have probably heard this quote before:

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” ~ John A. Shedd, 1928

Taking this one step further, I wonder if it is even proper to call something a ship if it remains in the harbor.

Yes, all ships must be in a harbor for a time. There are supplies they all must pick up, and cargo ships must drop off what they brought from afar and take on what they will carry elsewhere.

And, of course, all ships need maintenance now and then.

But stay in the harbor? No, I don’t think so. Why bother having a ship that is afraid to go out in the water, to take a trip, to do some work, to go on an adventure?

And Then There Is my Life

Adventures beckon. Challenges taunt me. New opportunities call from over the horizon.

And here I sit. Paralyzed, by fear. Moving a lot so I won’t realize I am paralyzed. Moving carefully without advancing on those adventures.

It can be a scary proposition being human. Living with walls I created to protect myself from monsters hiding under the bed. Walls that I once needed to keep me feeling safe, now become a prison that limits my possibilities, my growth. A prison that leads me to avoid adventures because I would have to venture beyond those ‘safe’ walls.

Publish a book? I might have to face rejection, criticism. I might find that my lofty ideas are just rewarmed leftovers that I have picked up from forgotten places.

Join a Writing Community? I might have to expose my ideas to the likes of really good writers.

Create a course based on my ideas about the value of writing your own affirmations and the Principles that show how to do that? What if no one signs up for the course? What if several people sign up and no one does the work, no one likes the course?

Ship my work? Send a query letter, a book proposal, a completed manuscript to an agent? What if they don’t like it? What if no one likes it? What if no one even bothers to send a rejection letter?

All these fearful ideas. They make me feel the need to reinforce the walls I created as a child, to post guards at the top of the walls to warn of impending threats.

I need to protect myself, to stay safe in the harbor.

But, then I was not built to stay safe in a harbor, safe behind guarded, reinforced walls. That’s not why I am here.

And am I really being human if I stay safe in a harbor or hidden behind walls? If not, what am I then?

No, I Must Reject These Walls

They are not a protection but a flag of surrender. Those enemies which I imagine I need protection from, they are nothing, literally no thing. They are paper tigers that can not harm me.

I must reinterpret these feelings which I call fear and view them as a positive sign that I am venturing forth. They are feelings of excitement for an adventure begun. I am moving against the imaginary foes that would defeat me before I start. And their only power is the power I give them.

I must venture forth and challenge these imaginary foes because otherwise I will die with my song unsung and that will be very sad.

I must because I must know that I can.

At this moment I believe I can. I must know it. And I can only know it when I do it.

So I lay down my armor and weapons because there are no monsters anywhere.

I step outside the walls, exposed and vulnerable. Here I am.

Here is my work.

 What do you think?